Visibility Zero
by the Marysue Murderess
Summary: !UNDER REVAMP! She laughed when they cut her head off. She laughed and laughed. And then her head grew back.
1. Prologue:

Warning: Contains OCs (this is, in fact, an OC fic) but **no** self-inserts. ((Though I have nothing against them! That's just not what this is))

**MANGA SPOILERS EVENTUALLY! READ AT CAUTION!**

Disclaimer: Clearly, I don't own Naruto. I only own my OCs.

. . .

"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets."  
>― Voltaire<p>

...

Prologue: The Land of Bloody Tears

My father had once called our village "the Land of Bloody Tears" and it is only now that I understand why. It is not the land that is crying, but the people within it.

I was born in the Era of Yagura, when bloodshed was as common as breathing air. The Mizukage was vicious, strong and unstoppable. His demon was known as Isobu, a piece of hell sealed within a tiny, child-like man. But appearances can be deceiving.

Yagura was absolute. He made rules and we followed them. If you didn't, he killed you. He didn't hesitate. Yagura was powerful, and he knew it. No one questioned him, not even when he asked us to kill our own comrades because of something as unimportant as a _bloodline.  
><em>It was eat or be eaten.

"Die now or die later, _your choice_." Yagura had whispered, raspy baritone flooding the room faster than the strongest water jutsu.

We obeyed.

That night, the Kaguya attacked. They slid out of the shadows like the war loving demon they were, bone swords drawn, eyes hungry. My clan had attacked, water jutsu against solid bone. They were relentless, but so were we.

I was seven.

I watched my cousins die from within my bedroom. And I laughed at their weakness like the filth I was. In my perfect little world, I was the strongest of them all, and they would one day bow to me. I felt no fear, no pain, no uncertainty. The world belonged to me. Those who were killed in battle had obviously not tried hard enough.

Or so I thought.

I watched my cousin, the honorable Hozuki Mangetsu, rip a man's throat out with his teeth. They were jagged like mine, but _sharper_. He could kill you so easily, so effortlessly, without even moving from his original position. His victim's agonized shrieks were cut short as he tore out their jugulars and left them to bleed out on the ground like the demon he was. Mangetsu loved to kill. He loved bloody, drawn-out deaths the most.

Mangetsu was nothing short of a monster.

Being three years his junior, I was constantly compared to him. Him, _Mangetsu_, the Second Coming of the Demon. Even then, the idea of me being his equal in any way was ludicrous.

I was strong, but I was only human.

A shriek tore through my thoughts like a well-aimed kunai.

I laughed and laughed.

I never once saw the Kaguya behind me.

..

White. I remember _white. _

The Kaguya woman with pretty, white hair and two blood-red dots on the center of her forehead had stood over me like the Grim Reaper. She was a bizarre representation of angelic beauty with her large, crystalline-blue eyes and soft cheekbones, decked out in a white dress spattered with blood.

She raised her sword, a declaration of war. She waited for me to meet her eyes before lowering her arm.

"Stupid child." She spat.

The sword met bone.

. . .

_Yes, the beginning has finally been written! I am so horrible with beginnings, but I need them to start the story. Hopefully you can bear with this one and this slight cliff hanger while I proofread Chapter One. Main character shall be revealed in the next chap~_

-MSM-


	2. Chapter One:

**Chapter One: The Blood of Idiots  
><strong>

Note: Particularly long, italicized phrases are most likely thoughts. If it's just a word, then it was just emphasized.

"The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder."  
>― Jim Morrison<p>

. . .

The sword sliced cleanly through me, like a knife through butter. The Kaguya woman smirked, lips curled into a sickening snarl.

"I've got you now, you brat! That'll teach you to laugh at me!"

She wasn't so beautiful anymore. Not in the slightest. Her smile was too insane to be beautiful, her body too rigid to entice. One too many battles had tainted this woman. Too much blood. Now, she couldn't get enough.

Her bloodlust had made her careless.

Her bone sword went right through me and ricocheted off the edge of my cast-iron bed frame. The ivory blade embedded itself in her skull with the familiar crack of shattering bone.

I kicked her body away in disgust.

"A wise shinobi always pays careful attention to their battlefield and their position within it. You shouldn't have underestimated me." I said, despite knowing she couldn't hear me.

It was painfully obvious to even me that the Kaguya weren't well-versed in battle tactics. If they were, the Kaguya woman in front of me wouldn't be dead. The Kaguya wouldn't even_ be here_ at all. They were careless, and they got what they deserved.

I tore the sword from the Kaguya's skull with a soft, bored sigh. A single strike had taken out this formerly "fierce" warrior, a warrior stupid enough to think she could defeat a Hozuki with physical attacks alone.

"Look at you, getting your filthy blood on my carpet."

. . .

Perhaps if the Kaguya had placed more value on their bloodlines and battle tactics, they would still be alive today. They should have trained their men harder and eliminated the slackers. They should have placed higher value on the Shikotsumyaku technique, not swordplay. You can't beat a Kiri nin with a sword. It simply isn't done.

They were outclassed before they even arrived. They should have known about _us_, the Hozuki Clan. Every single one of us, from infant to adult, were immune to physical attacks. Becoming one with water is not a hard thing for a Hozuki. It is the first thing we learn, before walking or even crawling. Because of this, our parents plot to kill us before we even open our eyes.

The first infant to activate their Hydrification Technique lives. The one who can't must be killed. The last thing the Hozuki want is another failure, another weakness. We lost so much strength when my uncle, the Honorable Nidaime Mizukage, was killed in a battle with the Nidaime Tsuchikage... If we lose anyone else, who will we have? The weak?

That's no clan at all.

We are separated at birth based on potential. The strongest are placed with the highest ranking clan members, the Head and his wife, or their children. The weakest, the _slowest_, are placed with lowly clan members- pathetic adult genin and elderly chunin. The average stay with their own parents. _Like me._

The ones who can't protect themselves are drowned. It's the natural way to go, submerged in a bucket of icy water headfirst. Becoming one with the water is an honorable death.

I barely survived. I was a small baby, small enough to fit neatly within my father's hands, as if I belonged there. Most infants cry when they are born. I did not. My eyes were closed, as if I was sleeping.

"She will die before sunrise," The medic had murmured, not quite caring.

My father didn't even test me. He knew I would fail. My death was imminent.

"We'll do better next time," My father had whispered, throat thick with unshed tears. My father was soft inside, like a clam. He had a hard shell, but his heart was a bright pearl in a sea of blood. He had loved me.

My mother knew I would die. And she hadn't cared. She had no interest in a weak child, or any child at all. My mother was far from a traditional Japanese bride despite being the eldest daughter of the clan head. She had no interest in marriage or raising a family, but had married my father anyway to save face. It was logical, the proper response to an undesirable situation.

"Alright. Do it quickly."

She had not cared for me. My mother was beautiful, with bewitchingly bright eyes and smooth, ivory hair. When I was born, my cheeks were puffy and my thighs thick. I had not looked like a porcelain doll or a cherubic angel. I was not what she had wanted. She would be glad to see me go. This way, she could return to her life of bloodshed and scandal. I was not needed.

I would only get in the way.

. . .

Drowning is not something I can explain, because it is not something I have ever truly felt. When my father submerged me, all I felt was stillness. I did not panic or cry out. I simply opened my eyes.

The water became part of me, and I it. It was unity, synchronicity, and safety. The water was consistent yet ever-changing, and for two seconds of what felt like infinity, I was truly alive. You couldn't have drowned me if I wanted to. I _was_ water.

_I lived._

. . .

The Kaguya corpses stank of failure. They thought they could defeat Yagura and his men, and that is true idiocy. They had been strong, yes, but you can't beat what you can't injure. Fighting us at all had been their biggest mistake, and their greatest downfall. The Kaguya had almost encouraged their annihilation. It was only fair we had retaliated.

I kicked the body of my would-be attacker aside in disgust. She lay on the ground, grey-faced and broken, like a marionette.

_Stupid woman, stabbing herself with her own sword. What did she think would happen, messing with me? _

"Never underestimate Hozuki Chinatsu," I said to the corpse, lips curled in a dead-on impersonation of the Kaguya woman's last expression.

I took her sword into my hands, palms held taught over the grooving bone. It was a beautiful, deadly weapon. _If only it had been put to better use._

I raised my arm, a wild smirk twisting my features.

"Stupid woman," I spat, mocking the dead Kaguya.

I lowered my arm.

_Author's Note:_

_To answer Mark (a guest reviewer), yes, my OC is from the Hozuki Clan :)_

_Hopefully, this isn't too bad as far as chapters go. It's not my best, but I need to sort of get through this dismal beginning before I can go on to write the cool stuff, like her missions and Academy Years. Bear with me, please!_

_Yes, Chinatsu is creepy, arrogant and mildly insane. If you do research on the Yagura Era, my reasoning as to why she is this way will probably make sense. Both Mangetsu and Suigetsu are like this when they kill, for example. (She should probably grow out of this once she gets some friends, but that's for another chapter.) I just feel like she would be sort of terrorizing the corpse of the Kaguya in the same way it came after her, in a sort of revenge.  
><em>

_Also, much love to Shimmerwind, NagariMitsukari12 and Mark for being the first three reviewers on my story! Thanks for the support~_

_-MSM_


	3. Chapter Two:

**Chapter Two: Sky Runs Red.  
><strong>

Note: Long, italicized phrases are thoughts. The singles are just emphasized words or sounds. You know the drill.

. . .

"If you're that obsessed with someone, why would you kill her?  
>Humans are full of contradictions."<br>― Ai Yazawa

* * *

><p>The boy known as Kimimaro could have been my killer. But he was weakened, and I was armed with his comrade's bone sword. I was the native with an entire clan behind me. Kimimaro was a clan protégé, now without a clan. Everyone knew him, <em>the boy who used his bones like weapons<em>. Unfortunately for Kimimaro, he had no one to back him up.

I met his eyes, two pretty green gems surrounded by a sea of dark red blood- _the blood of my clan members?_ They were searching mine, apprehensive and innocent. Kimimaro was truly a beautiful boy. It was a shame he had to die.

Just as I raised the sword, he backed away, bones receding into his skin. It was clear that he possessed the elusive Shikotsumyaku bloodline, a technique that rivaled the famous Sharigan and Byakugan in terms of effectiveness. The Shikotsumyaku allowed the user to manipulate their own skeletal structure in order to turn their bones into weapons, a truly remarkable feat. He was indeed Kimimaro, the Kaguya protégé.

"Retreat," I suggested, "And I won't alert the others."

He was so small, even smaller than me. Just a boy, really. It wasn't his fault he had been caught up in all of this. Kimimaro was clearly a child engineered for war and killing, trained to defend and fight until the end. He couldn't be much older than me, and I was only seven, too young to be out in battle just yet. Yet here he was, covered in blood and _just too small._

"Leave," I whispered. I wanted to touch him, to push him backwards until he was outside the village boundaries. I didn't. I couldn't risk coming in contact with a bone sword before I was able to block his attack. He was young, but I couldn't trust him. Appearances can be deceiving, no matter how kind the person appeared to be. Our Mizukage is solid evidence of such. Underestimating him would be a death sentence.

Kimimaro turned and ran, bypassing the pile of his people's corpses. He didn't seem to cry, but his green eyes were sad. My stomach clenched at the idea of killing him, someone my age. He could have been my friend if things were different. But they weren't. Kimimaro was my enemy. His people, his bloodline, the Kaguya... they were the enemy.

And they deserved to be exterminated.

I was a kunoichi. I wasn't _supposed_ to let the enemy gain the upper hand. If I allowed Kimimaro to survive, there was a chance he could find refuge in a nearby village and return later with armed forces. Now that he had seen our clan techniques, he could spread the secrets of our hiden techniques worldwide, which would be detrimental to our clan's power. I _shouldn't_ spare him. I couldn't.

I did anyway.

The last thing I needed was another vengeful ghost.

. . .

The sun had long since disappeared behind the craggy mountains of Kirigakure, and the rest of my clan was yet from border patrol. They had set out shortly after the Kaguya attack to secure the border, and keep a sharp eye out for any other invaders. I had been alone with only the body of the Kaguya woman (what was left of it) to keep me company.

I had long since removed the woman's head and thrown it out the window. Her eyes were disturbing- seeing nothing yet never looking away from me. I was now contemplating how to remove the rapidly decomposing body from my bedroom, lest it leak any more body fluids on my daisy-patterned carpeting. She was too heavy for me to pick up... _Perhaps I could drag her?_

An alarm sounded, jolting me out of my thoughts. I recognized it instantly, and my stomach sank. It was the Mizukage's personal alarm, used only in situations of extreme emergency. Yagura himself had never used it, as far as I knew, but it had been used many times during the founding of Kirigakure, when the village had been sieged on a regular basis. If he was using it now, things must be _bad._

_I have to help!_

I slid off my desk chair and toed on my sandals before fumbling around in search of my jacket. Pulling it on, I readied my self to leap out the window as I had seen my cousins do hundreds of times before. _Left foot in the front, right in the back... Funnel chakra to my toes, land on the balls of my feet..._

Before I could move, my bedroom door slid open with a squeak, and Suigetsu toddled inside. He was unsteady, stumbling around as he made his way over to me on shaky legs.

"Nee-chan," He whimpered, hands over his ears, "Too loud!"

I hadn't even known he was home. _Anything_ could have happened to Suigetsu while I was locked away in my room, reading "_Tale of Genji"_ and eating plums. He could have been killed by a surviving Kaguya, kidnapped by a rival clan... There were too many possibilities with too little pleasant outcome. There was no way I could leave him alone now.

It was for the good of the clan. If I left Suigetsu here, enemies may infiltrate the area and kidnap him in order to steal our hiden. Not only would it be detrimental to our people as a whole, but Suigetsu could _die_. He was just like Kimimaro, I realized. None of this was his fault, but he was involved anyway.

He was just a baby.

"Suigetsu, do you want Onee-chan to fix you a snack?" I put on my gentle voice, a dead-on impersonation of Suigetsu's soft-spoken, _weak _mother.

He nodded, reaching upwards for my hand. I pulled him to his feet, marveling at how positively _easy_ it would be to kill him- right here, right now. No weapons. Just my bare hands. Suigetsu was so small, so soft and trusting. He would never see it coming.

I stepped out into the hallway, helping Suigetsu up the steps that separated my bedroom from the main house. Right away, I smelt blood. Not fresh blood, but rotting, festering flesh and fetid blood. Wherever it came from, it had been there awhile. At least six hours, judging by scent alone.

_Someone is in the house._

I gently lifted Suigetsu up off the floor and into my arms. He wrapped his sticky fingers around my neck and rubbed his sweaty cheek against mine, spreading bacteria and dirt like any other child would.

_I'll find you, Kaguya filth. You will die._

The hallway creaked as we walked along it, ancient flooring protesting our weight. It was a miracle the Main House hadn't collapsed yet, after all the fighting and water damage it had been subject to during the Founder's Era. Inwardly, I knew there was no safer place for a Hozuki- a house with water in the very core- but I couldn't help but feel skeptical as the creaking grew louder with each step. Something had happened here, but I had no idea what.

Finally, we reached the end of the hallway and entered the common room, the area usually reserved for meetings and discussion. It was the most open part of our home, door-less on all sides. It was the center of the Hozuki ancestral home, the beginning of our personal, moving labyrinth.

The design of our home was far more complex than it seemed. My grandmother, the original Hozuki Chinatsu, had made sure of this when she designed the building sixty-something years ago. It had been her personal mission to protect the secrets of our clan and our hiden, and she had designed to building to reflect this. The Hozuki home had seven total layers, three above ground and four below. The upper layers were intended for living, but the lower levels held unimaginable clan secrets. The lower you went, the more dangerous it became. Genjutsu, traps, and other unfathomable manners of torture lay dormant, _waiting_, on each level. Even I had never seen the bottom. I wasn't sure _anyone _had seen the bottom.

We were on the fourth level, border-line underground and heavily guarded. This area was usually alive with a calm, consistent hum of protective, golden chakra. Typically, I could sense the presence of my relatives throughout the entire building while within this room. It had been designed that way, for optimal surveillance and guarding. Today, when Suigetsu and I entered the room, I felt nothing. No buzzing, comforting chakra. Nothing.

The smell of blood was so very, very strong.

Hesitantly, I made my way to the center of the room. Suigetsu giggled, squirming in my arms. I released him, and he began to crawl away from me, heading towards the South Wing- the complete opposite direction of the kitchen.

There, the smell of blood grew sickeningly strong.

"Nee-chan, nee-chan," Suigetsu cooed, "Look what I did."

I dropped to my knees, stomach twisting into knots._ So much blood..._

"_No,_" I rasped hoarsely.

Suigetsu smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Cliffhanger~

Don't worry! Kimimaro goes away and doesn't show again in her story!

Kimimaro and Chinatsu are roughly the same age. He's a bit older, (two/four months) though. Suigetsu is about three or four years younger than Chinatsu, and seven or eight younger than Mangetsu. He's the family baby.

For explanations sake: Chinatsu isn't as strong as she _thinks _she is. Chinatsu overestimates herself constantly, and is arrogant because of it. She really isn't that strong yet. For example, she probably would've been KO'd by Kimimaro. She just didn't think so.

-MSM-


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three: The War Begins.  
><strong>

"When she awoke, the world was on fire."  
>― Scott Westerfeld<p>

* * *

><p>"Get up."<p>

The edges of my vision were blurred and darkened, making it difficult to distinguish light from the dark. I could barely see what was right in front of me, but I could faintly make out two white, moving blurs.

"Get up," the voice repeated, "Get up or you will die, Chinatsu."

I shifted, cringing as I realized that I had been in my gelatinous form, the default state for a Hozuki. If I had entered this form without my knowledge, I must have been unconscious.

_Did Suigetsu do this? Did he attack me?!_

While I honestly doubted Suigetsu had made any negative advances towards me, I couldn't be too sure. The last thing I remembered was the innocent, smiling face he made as he splashed in the blood of his victims as if it were some sort of swimming pool. Even now, I couldn't believe what I had seen... Tiny, tiny Suigetsu standing over four undoubtedly dead Kaguya men. Their skulls were split, faces mangled and twisted almost beyond human recognition. Something, or _someone_, had shown no mercy.

_Suigetsu... did you... do this to them__?_

Pushing the negative thoughts aside, I began to reform my human body, despite the strain it placed on me to do so. When I was finally able to regain my human form, I raised my hand, vision blurring further as I attempted to sit up. I wasn't sure when I had passed out or why, but there was no denying that I had indeed lost consciousness.

A soft, irritated sigh came from the white blur to my right, and a familiar, feminine voice muttered, "Shōsen Jutsu!" before placing their palms on my forehead. Almost immediately, my vision began to clear.

I recognized the first white blur as my cousin Sumiko, a genin-level kunoichi who had graduated from the Academy just a few weeks ago. Sumiko was the very picture of practiced, precise elegance with her snow-white hair and always clean qipao, even in the heat of battle. She was the picture-perfect Hozuki female, carrying the grace my own mother failed to possess. I was little more than two years her junior but worlds behind her in the field of medical ninjutsu, at which she had always been impressively proficient.

"Can you stand?" She asked, chilly grey eyes boring into mine.

I nodded, pushing myself up off the floor with a shaky palm. I was embarrassed to be seen in such a weak state, even more so when I noticed Suijin, another relative of mine, standing off to the side.

Suijin was a good six months younger than me and a bit on the pudgy side, but still "cute" enough to be well-liked by her peers. She was nowhere near as strong as myself and seemed to lack initiative as a ninja, despite having a strong proficiency in our clan techniques. Despite this, she insisted we were rivals and vowed to surpass me one day... But she never acted upon her words. Suijin preferred to stay off to the side, watching me with her strangely empty green eyes.

I didn't like the way she looked at me.

"What's going on?" I couldn't help but ask.

Suijin snorted, tossing her blonde ringlets over her shoulder with a flick of her chin. "As if you don't know, 'Natsu."

_There goes that stupid nickname again... How many times do I have to tell her that I am Chinatsu, named after the founding mother of the Hozuki Clan? I am not 'Natsu'!_

As per usual, I didn't react to Suijin's childish antics in any form aside from thoughts. Keeping my face blank, I blinked slowly. _Do not give her the satisfaction of a reaction, Chinatsu._

"I don't know, really. One minute, I was with Suigetsu. The next, I'm here. What happened?!"

Sumiko and Suijin shared a quick glance, silvery-grey meeting cold green. Their chakra seemed to collide for a fraction of a second, fizzling wildly within their bodies. I groaned, placing a palm on my forehead. Their chakra was giving me a migraine, as it always did. Suijin's chakra was loud and fluttery, flickering in and out of her body like a flame. Sumiko's was smooth and chilly, like a bucket of ice water. When the two collided, things began to smoke- metaphorically, of course. I had realized long ago that my hypersensitivity to the chakra signatures of those around me was more of a curse than a blessing.

"Yagura-sama ordered the execution of all Kiri nin with bloodline limits while you were sleeping," Sumiko stated, tone flat and completely lacking in remorse.

I raised a brow, unable to contain my confusion. Had the Kaguya, who weren't even Kiri nin, started this mass genocide with their own stupidity?! _Surely_ Yagura wasn't going to start a civil warover something as trivial as this.

"Are you sure? Or is this just a cover-up for an invasion?"

Suijin sighed, head thrown back theatrically. "Naw."

Sumiko simply stood up, dusting off her pale-blue qipao as she did so. She gestured for me to follow her, and I begrudgingly did so. I hated being lead around like a dog. Sumiko knew that, I was sure of it. She simply loved to push my buttons.

_Just wait until I snap, Sumiko. I'll snap your neck. Then who will be laughing?_

Sumiko led me upstairs, to the third level of the building, and gestured to one of the double-hung windows with a flick her doll-like wrist.

"Take a look if you don't believe us, cousin." She said simply.

Tentatively, I pushed the window open. The smell of smoke and tepid flesh hit me less than a second later, making my eyes water. It was late in the evening and the mist was thicker than usual, closer to opaque than translucent. Ordinarily, I could see through it, or at least detect the chakra of fellow nin around me to avoid accidents. Now, I saw nothing. I couldn't feel the presence of anyone else aside from myself, Suijin and Sumiko. Something about this just didn't add up. My eyes narrowed as I realized what I was looking at wasn't mist. It was _smoke_.

The village was on fire.

When there's too much fire, you get burned. Not even a Hozuki can withstand a constant flame. It might not kill us directly, but it could render us unconscious and incapacitated, which would likely lead to the destruction of the village. Without our solid defense capabilities, Kirigakure would have been wasted long ago.

I slammed my palms down on the window pane, fingernails digging into the moulding. _My clan... Oh Kami, not my clan!_

"Sumiko," I hissed, "You lying piece of shit. The village is burning down! This is _not _the time for your games!"

Sumiko was clever, disturbingly so. While she might not have been necessarily book smart, Sumiko was the most manipulative, two-faced person I had ever met. One moment, she was the sweetest person you'd ever know. The next, she's holding a kunai to your throat, making demands. I didn't like to think about what happened when her demands weren't met.

Sumiko smirked at me, pretty face warped with malevolence. "Fine, cousin. Go play in the smoke, see how long you last by yourself. It's a war zone out there."

_A... war?! The Kaguya started a WAR?!_

My chakra pulsed as I clenched my fists, wanting nothing more than to whip around and clip Sumiko's smirking face with all of my strength. But I didn't dare. It would be a waste of perfectly good chakra to blow her head off- it would just grow back.

"What do we do, then?" I whispered, voice cracking.

Was this a civil war? Or were we going up against Iwagakure yet again? I was completely and utterly lost, and I _hated _being in a position where I lacked power. I didn't know where I stood in this war, or what could become of myself and my clan if we lost.

My own father could be out there, dying. My friends could be dying. Everything I loved was threatening to fall apart, and these weak, pathetic excuses for Hozuki were _hiding_. I didn't understand how they could justify such cowardice. I didn't even know what was going on, and I was ready to fight. These girls were just... trash.

"We do what ninja always do," Suijin said with a shrug, "We fight."

I clenched my fists again, barely able to keep my anger in check. "Then, Miss 'Ninja', why are we here? Why aren't you fighting, hm?"

I wanted to ask them where Suigetsu was, but at the same time I didn't. If the bodies I'd seen were anything to go by, Suigetsu was just like his brother- too much power, too little restraint. He had singlehandedly obliterated four adult, _Jonin-level _Kaguya without me even so much as noticing a disturbance. As far as I knew, Suigetsu had killed them barehanded. He didn't use any weapons yet...

_Hell_, he was still in _diapers_.

It was clear that Suigetsu was going to become a monster as he aged. I couldn't delude myself any longer. Suigetsu wasn't the sweet, innocent child I thought he was. He was... a demon. A blood thirsty, vicious demon.

_Just like Mangetsu..._

I couldn't stand to look at either of them. They were so weak for abandoning our clan, our comrades, in their time. Just looking at Suijin's smirking face made bile rise in the back of my throat, burning me like white, hot venom. Unlike them, I had _honor._ They were filth. I was the hero. And I'd be damned if I didn't do something about this.

Without looking back, I threw open the window and leapt into the smoke.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Shōsen Jutsu is the green medical ninjutsu technique used by close to every medic nin. The Mystical Palm Technique, I believe, is the translation.

Mark- Yes, they do get past Kiri's hatred towards bloodlines. Anyone can use the Hydrification Technique if they are taught it, which makes it a "hiden" rather than a bloodline. It appears to be constantly active, rather than activated, because when a Hozuki is rendered unconscious, they enter a gelatinous form unconsciously. Excellent point from you, as usual :)

Ah, before someone asks: Chinatsu isn't specifically a sensor type. Almost all ninja can sense another's chakra, it just depends on how close they are to that person. Sensor types have a more specified, wide range with higher clarity- like a third eye.

-MSM-


	5. Chapter Four:

**Chapter Four: Within the Hidden Mist  
><strong>

"While I was looking the other way your fire went out  
>Left me with cinders to kick into dust<br>What a waste of the wonder you were  
>In my living fire I will keep your scorn and mine<br>In my living fire I will keep your heartache and mine  
>At the disgrace of a waste of a life"<br>― Kristin Cashore

* * *

><p>Without looking back, I leapt out the window and into the smoke.<p>

I landed awkwardly, too heavily on the bridge of my feet for it to have been properly executed. I straightened up, covering my mouth with the palm of my hand in an effort to force back the rising bile. I definitely smelt burning flesh... And _not _in a good way. I could excuse the scent of light burns from fire jutsus or lightning releases, but this smell was too concentrated to be _just _the result of trivial flesh wounds. Something big had happened, I was sure of it.

Everything was too still.

The old sounds I had heard were that of my landing, the sound of my sandals meeting gravely dirt. My own heartbeat was uncharacteristically loud, hammering hard against my ribcage whereas in was ordinarily almost undetectable. I had a very, _very _bad feeling about this.

Tentatively, I stepped into the wall of smoke. My home disappeared from view as I began navigated this swirling grey vortex of nothingness, leaving me in a very vulnerable position. I had no idea which direction I was walking in, and I could hardly see my own body, let alone a possible enemy. Everything was very grey and bleak, as if all hope had been lost within this bottomless abyss of hell.

If this was a war, then where was the fighting? If anything, I should have heard the sounds of metal against metal, the whistling of parting air as a kunai tore past me, or the screams of dying ninja.

I heard nothing.

I felt nothing.

I was practically blind in every sense of the world _except _sight, but even that afforded me little. What I could see was very flat and grey, swirling above me like a fiery inferno. This was definitely more than just smoke or unusually thick mist- mist didn't thicken like this, and as far as I knew, neither did smoke. Someone, or something, had definitely cast a strong jutsu over the area, most likely in the favor of Mist nin. Unlike outsiders, we could fight when we couldn't see or hear our opponents, focused only on their chakra as we delivered the killing blows. This very fighting style, _the Silent Killing_, was arguably the most reputed fighting style in all of Kirigakure. Foreign nin had no idea what was coming...

Is that what was going on here? Was every Kiri nin employing the use of the Silent Killing, using this thick wall of smoke and mist to their advantage?

While that was an impressive deduction on my part, something about this just didn't add up. While I could trust my fellow shinobi to keep quiet, I could hardly hold foreign nin to such a caliber. The Kaguya had been the loudest opponents I had ever heard, shrieking and cheering even as they were struck down by my relatives. If other outsiders performed in a similar manner, then it would definitely be anything but quiet around here...

_At the very least, I should feel some chakra!_

The fact that I felt the presence of no one besides myself was even more disturbing than the idea of war. The village was ordinarily teeming with life, chakra signatures absolutely everywhere. When the Kaguya arrived, my senses had been on red-alert, veins thrumming with excitement at the induction of fresh chakra into my vicinity. Chakra was a comforting sense of the proverbial "safety" despite it often being a mark of anything but. As long as there was chakra, there were shinobi. As long as there were shinobi, I was protected.

_No chakra._

I had not an inkling of an idea as to what was going on here. I was usually very quick to the draw, able to solve most problems as they came my way. I was above my peers in intelligence, but that was hardly something to brag about. The average shinobi my age couldn't even _read _yet, let alone piece together complicated situations as I normally did. I was an outlier in my own age group, one of few who didn't think picking my nose was socially acceptable.

I could already tell the Academy was going to be a bear. Most of my classmates probably wouldn't know a genjutsu from a ninjutsu if it hit them in the face. I wouldn't be challenged in the slightest. None of my relatives had. When Mangetsu had entered the Academy, he was already a killing machine. There was nothing baring me from following his path, but I was yet to be taught anymore than basic kenjutsu by my father. It was clear he expected very little of me, his _daughter_ that should have been dead. Any requests I made for instruction were met with "Next time, sweetheart," while he seemed to have all the time in the world to train Mangetsu.

Mangetsu wasn't even his child! I was, not _him_. Me. _Pay attention to me, Father. Mangetsu is strong enough!_

I didn't even have my own sword yet- Kaguya relic notwithstanding. That wasn't my own, it was a leftover I had stolen from a corpse. I wanted something that was mine, custom made for _me_. Not one of Mangetsu's leftover blades. _Me._

I slammed my foot down on the ground violently, chakra bursting through my body like a bomb. My anger, unchecked, was truly a dangerous thing. I released a pulse of chakra from deep within me, slicing through the air like Killing Intent. Almost immediately, I began to feel light-headed from chakra depletion.

_Damn it! How stupid could I have been?! _Wasting chakra now was a poor idea. If this was a war, I was going to need every ounce of chakra I had just to keep up.

And that chakra burst was like waving a sign above my head and screaming "COME AND GET IT!" The enemy nin- if there were any- would be on me in a second.

I had to _move. _

I leapt from my position on the ground and sprinted violently towards the center of the swirling mist vortex. I had no idea where I was going, or why. I just _moved_.

A soft, barely-there humming came from my right, fast approaching. My worries had been confirmed. There was indeed someone else out here, and my chakra pulse had sent them my way. I then concentrated on the chakra signature, trying to identify it. It was an unfamiliar chakra signature, but very faint, suggesting either chakra depletion or small reserves to begin with. It flickered, much like Suijin's, but was overall brighter than Suijin's chakra normally was.

I had no idea who it belonged to, which was what worried me most. I had always assumed that I had a relatively good memory, and was able to recall familiar chakra signatures with ease, faster than I could remember faces. Chakra signatures are wholly unique, never matching up completely with another. They were the invisible ninja ID card, and impossible to duplicate. You can get close, if you're talented with a transformation jutsu, but you will never be able to completely replicate someone else's chakra signature. It's like DNA- completely and utterly _personal. _

I didn't recognize this incoming signature _at all_, and I was quite sure that I had a good majority, if not all of my comrades' signatures memorized. When I met someone, I made an effort to commit their signature to memory to avoid confusion and just plain dangerous situations. Because I didn't recognize this one, it had to be that of a foreign nin.

I was unarmed, surrounded by thick fog, and completely out of my element. I had no idea how I would defend myself if I were to be confronted. My chakra was mostly gone now, thanks to the pulse I had sent out earlier, and _nothing was making any sense._

This was supposed to be a war. I didn't necessarily want a war, but I knew this was far from one. Everything was simply too silent, aside from the sounds of my sandals smacking against the wet, grainy gravel as I ran. War is loud, bloody, and brutal. There are no "pauses," no fairness or decorum. You fight to win, or die trying.

I heard _nothing_.

My own heartbeat had grown faint now, dissolving into the background as I ran. It should have been growing steadily louder, but I could hardly hear it at all. While that in itself was worrying, I had bigger problems to deal with.

The chakra signature was suddenly _so _close.

"YOU!" Someone screamed.

_Everything was on fire._

* * *

><p>I apologize for how how poorly written this is. The government in my country began to fall apart and my family and I were forced to evacuate from the area. I am currently jetlagged and typing this onto my iPod from a hostel near Narita, Japan. As half Japanese, I have had dual citizenship here and was able to use this to leave my country. As a result, this is not my best chapter. I hope to edit it eventually, but right now I just want to lay down and <em>sleep. <em>There is more specific information on my Tumblr about this, I recommend that you see it.

I'm so sorry for lagging so heavily in this update! I will try my best to not do this again! I will get to work on the newest update right away.

-MSM-


	6. Chapter Five:

**Chapter Five: Deceit.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Yeah, as long as we know we're trapped, we still have a chance to escape."<br>― Sara Grant

* * *

><p>"YOU!" Someone screamed.<p>

_Everything was on fire._

The girl herself wasn't, but everything else was. Every fragment of living, breathing life had been destroyed, shattered and aflame. The girl was a Phoenix, alight with fire but completely unharmed. She was beautiful, I realized, in an unconventional sort of way, with her glittering grey eyes and shimmering hair. She was a little on the small side- especially to be out here- but that wasn't what caught my attention. The power radiating from her was _suffocating. _From far away, her chakra had been faint and close to nonexistent. The closer she came, the more powerful her chakra grew.

I had been completely and utterly incorrect.

When I had surveyed the area, I had been confident in my scan. _No threats_, I had thought.

I was wrong.

This girl was definitely a threat. She was the source of the fire, I was one hundred percent sure of it. The flickering of her chakra was almost exactly inline with that of the flames, a sure sign of a practiced katon user. I was at the advantage here, being a Suiton user by nature. Fire was weak against water, but water could be overpowered if the strength of the flames was more powerful than my own. If the flames I detected were anything to go by, this girl was an exceptionally skilled katon user. The flames were _blue_- the most difficult to use and by far the most dangerous type of flame. The blue area of a standard flame was the hottest, the very core and source of all heat within the flame itself. Ordinary katon users created orange or red flames, with hints of blue towards the center.

But these flames were _entirely _blue. I hadn't even known this was physically possible, which meant this girl was all the more dangerous of an opponent. The odds were not in my favor today, it seemed.

She was so very, very close.

I had no idea why she was after me, and not knowing made this whole ordeal all the more terrifying. I could understand her rage if she was, perhaps, a Kaguya... But this girl clearly wasn't. The Kaguya women I had seen had been petite and graceful looking, like professional dancers rather than ninjas. This girl was pear shaped and stocky, with a certain heaviness to her bones that reeked of chakra. The Kaguya had two blood red marking in the center of their foreheads, whereas this girl's face was clean of any markings whatsoever. Her skin was warm olive rather than bone-white, and she was simply _bursting _with chakra in a way I had never seen before. I had no idea how I had missed such an important detail... But somehow, I had.

_Oh, why me?!_

I _had_ to think quickly. If I let her in too close, she could burn me up faster than I might be able to activate any of my Suiton techniques. I didn't know what sort of tricks or techniques this girl used, which made things even worse. The lack of information presented to me would be detrimental to my success in what would probably escalate into a full-blown battle. I normally planned before acting, keeping to the shadows until I discovered the chink in my opponent's armor.

There was no time for that now. I could see the whites of her eyes from where I stood- _strike time, _my father had always said.

Without wasting another second, I began to compress the water within my index finger until its pressure began to burn. This technique might be my only advantage...

"Mizudeppō no Jutsu!" I whispered.

The water chakra burst from my index finger at lightning fast speed, slicing through the girl's right hand.

Scowling, I spat bitterly on the ground. My aim had been off, completely missing the girl's forehead, my intended target. A water bullet through the hand would do little to debilitate her, and had most likely been a total waste of what little chakra I had left. At best, it might slow down her hand seals just a _bit_ but would otherwise do nothing.

_What a waste of perfectly good chakra..._

A bark of "Lava Release: Lava Globs!" sounded from my right, and I had less than a fraction of a second to leap away from the incoming globs of... _blue lava?!... _before they managed to latch onto my skin. My stomach clenched with worry. This was _not _good. I had expected fire but definitely not lava, an elite technique normally only usable by highly skilled jounin. This girl was only a little older than me, I was sure of it. She was far too small to be full-fledged ninja, and she lacked the mature eyes our childlike Mizukage possessed.

And the lava was _blue. _Real lava wasn't blue. It was orangey-red, just like fire. Assuming the same rules applied here, blue lava must be the most intense of all the various types of the Lava Release. I wasn't even sure that anyone else actually used blue lava in combat...

This girl was unbelievable.

I leapt out of the way of several globs of lava, one narrowly missing my abdomen. The force of the jutsu was so strong that I wound up flying backwards and hitting my head on the ground. The shock was enough to make me freeze in place for a fraction of a second, which gave her just enough time to repeat the hand signs for the jutsu and spit out even more lava.

My chances of survival diminished even more when I realized that I had no chance of beating her at hand-to-hand combat. My taijutsu was underdeveloped, and what little I could use was intended for close-range combat. Getting to close to this girl would mean death, and that was something I did not want to experience. I swallowed, a bead of sweat trickling down my forehead. I couldn't think of a logical way out of this battle, if there was one at all.

The girl ran at me, leaving no time to think. I had to act, and quickly!

I slipped into my gelatinous form and sunk into the ground, struggling to push through the hard-packed dirt before she could reach me. My move was cowardly, but the smartest option I had. While I was not the best at utilizing the Hozuki Clan hiden, I was advanced enough at manipulating my form that I could squeeze into exceptionally small spaces with little effort, and push through hard-packed surfaces to come out on the other side. While I wasn't the strongest or the fastest, my ability to vaporize my body was far greater than any of my other clan members. I could successfully turn myself into mere water vapor, a skill originally possessed by only my grandmother, the original Hozuki Chinatsu. Unlike her, however, I could not break myself down on a molecular level yet. I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to be, but now was as good a time to try as any.

It was the only option I had. This girl was like Mangetsu, leagues above me- a monster in every sense of the word. She could create fire out of nothing, like any katon user worth their salt, while I could only use my limited range of suiton techniques when I was near a viable source of water. As far as I could tell, there was no water nearby. I might be able to pull some from the misty smoke that had covered the area, or perhaps some from the ground itself, but my resources were significantly limited. Kirigakure was full of water, but I couldn't sense any of it now. If there really was a war going on, the odds were not in our favor.

_Let's hope she doesn't know how to break through the earth..._

Frantically, I attempted to compress my form further, pushing myself deeper into the ground. But nothing changed. My body was still in a semi-congealed form rather than an invisible molecular structure. I realized that worrying about this now was stupid- who cared if I could dissolve if the girl could simply burn me up?!

I could hear her breathing softly above me, but she didn't move. Neither did I. Despite how cowardly my move may be, it was by far the best option I had. I couldn't risk coming into contact with her lava, which would undoubtedly render me unconscious. In the event that the worst did happen, she would likely be able to kill me with little effort.

I couldn't let that happen. My clan needed a successor- one that wasn't completely rotten with bloodlust like Mangetsu or Suigetsu would likely grow to be. They needed someone with a strong head on their shoulders- like me- that they could trust to make the right decisions. When my honorable uncle was killed in battle, we lost our greatest power. My mother was next in line to become leader after her father, which wasn't a good thing. My mother was consumed by her bloodlust to the point of insanity. She would not make for a good leader, and would likely lead the clan to its demise before too long.

I had to prove myself.

_Now!_

I shot up out of the ground with a cry of "Drowning Water Blob Technique!", body twisting around the girl's form to constrict around her neck and face. If I kept her from breathing, she would die quickly and I could locate the others.

Her skin grew scorching hot, fiery and bubbling with raw heat. She was nothing like me, stream-lined and pale, with skin as smooth and moist as water itself. She was fire embodied, a dangerous immortal phoenix that could only grow stronger. I was water- smooth, simple water. I could be easily overtaken by her...

I was going to evaporate.

With a shriek, I released her, jerking away from her boiling-hot body. My body reformed quickly, but my skin was tinged dark pink from burns. This was _bad_. As a Hozuki, my skin was naturally protected from an physical attack. The fact that her very skin had effected me at all was highly disturbing.

The girl did not wait for me to gather my thoughts and instead flew at me with another Lava Release Jutsu. This one was the 'Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique' and even more dangerous than her previous one. When the technique was activated, the user spat sheets of molten lava into the air. This technique was effectively hot, liquidy, air-born death. I wouldn't be able to outleap it, so I took three steps backwards and activated the Mizudeppō no Jutsu, this time using both hands.

I managed to clip the girl's right thigh before she dodged the first bullet, and put the second on through her shoulder. By the time I was preparing the release a third, she was cursing fitfully.

Lava sliced past my right ear, scorching my cheek but thankfully never touching it. This was getting out of hand. Any closer and she would have taken my head off!

"What do you want from me?!" I gasped in between gulps of air.

My chakra was almost gone, and I was beginning to become dehydrated- a strong sign of oncoming death for a Hozuki. I needed water quickly if I hoped to survive this fight. If I became dehydrated, there was a high possibility that I would go into full-blown shock and eventually begin to waste away. Hozukis need an almost constant supply of water to be in top condition, and I hadn't had anything to drink in well-over eight hours. I was toeing the line between life and death at this very moment. The edges of my vision was beginning to blur and I could hardly breathe. Things did not look good.

My opponent was well aware of this. Her dark eyes glowed with mirth- as if she found me amusing rather than a threat. Clenching my fists, I prepared to launch another attack.

"What, is that puny water gun technique all you have?" She taunted, already starting on another set of hand seals.

I growled. "Hell no!"

Without thinking, I whispered, "Suiton: Mizurappa."

I instantly regretted it. The technique used up the last of my remaining chakra but knocked the girl backwards, dousing her from head to toe in water. Smoke began to fill the air, adding to the walls of greyness around us.

I had been foolish. Now, I had hardly enough chakra to complete a simple water gun technique. I was unarmed. I had been careless, running away from Suijin and Sumiko without even so much as gathering up a few senbon. I should have brought the Kaguya sword with me, at least. It had been with me right up until I passed out...

_Suijin._

Suijin had done this. Either Suijin or Sumiko had tricked me somehow, and had probably stolen my new weapon from me while I was out cold. This could be the reason my head had hurt so badly when I had awoken- they had tampered with me. Suijin, Sumiko and I had always been rivals. Suijin was the daughter of my father's brother, and a fellow contender for the heir of the clan. Sumiko hailed from the lower ranking families but had excelled in the field of medical ninjutsu from an early age. It wouldn't surprise me if they had teamed up to stop me. Sumiko could probably remove fragments of memories, which would explain the odd blankness in my head when I thought of anything after seeing the bodies of the Kaguya men. She was simply that advanced. Suijin, on the other hand, was lazy and preferred food over training any day. Somehow, she still viewed herself as my equal despite being leagues beneath me. She was likely the mastermind behind this entire plan, and Sumiko had likely been all to willing to go along with it. Of course, I couldn't be sure, but it was more than a little likely that they had something to do with this entire event...

_A genjutsu_. This was a genjutsu.

I couldn't believe I had never noticed. It was _so _painfully obvious now that I thought about it- the silence, the mist, the fire... It was all one huge, elaborate trap and I had walked right into it.

"Stop with this bullshit, Suijin," I growled, "You can't fool me!"

The girl laughed, head thrown back as she shook with hysterics. "What makes you say that, baka?!"

"Everything about this is odd. The strange, misty smoke, your skill level, my memory loss- none of it adds up. This can't be a real war, or a real reality!" I hissed.

The girl smirked. "Well done. Congratulations, Hozuki Chinatsu. You passed."

The world went up in smoke.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Katon is the Fire Release. Suiton is the Water Release.

Mizudeppō no Jutsu is the Water Gun Technique (super lame looking but so effective). It's basically where you make a gun sign with your hand and shoot water out like a super-powered bullet.

When you use Suiton, inexperienced users can't really make their own water. Even super experienced users can't do that with high powered jutsus unless they are like... kage level or something, which is why Chinatsu is struggling. Plus, she's low on chakra.

Mark: Indeed, she does! Chinatsu likes to think she is in control, but she really isn't. Plus, her chakra reserves are _super _small at this age. There isn't much she can do with what she has left, so she normally tries to outsmart her opponent.

And thank you for the kind words! All of my reviewers are just too kind, I don't deserve you guys! I'm sorry I gave you guys this poorly written fight scene... I have never written one of these before, so please forgive me. *bows*

-MSM-


	7. Chapter Six:

**Chapter Six: All is Revealed...?**

"We are not trapped by our thoughts. What we generally do, however, is create thoughts that trap us."  
>― Joshua David Stone<p>

. . .

Two hooded figures crouched on the edge of the battlefield, watching the fight unfold before them with great seriousness.

The larger of the two figures, the one to the right, turned to his smaller counterpart. "Chinatsu is awfully small, isn't she? Are you sure you want to do this, Akane-sama?"

The second figure nodded slowly, her violet eyes narrowed with concentration. "Of course. She's anxious to prove herself. Who am I deny her that chance? I will allow her to fight and see how she does. Then, we will judge her capabilities as a ninja...

"If she lives that long, that is."

The first figure swallowed, pale brows knit with worry. "But, Akane-sama-!"

Akane raised her arm, pale skin standing out sharply in the shadows around them. "Silence, Ryouta. You will not interfere with my daughter. I am the only one that has a say in her future."

Ryouta forced himself to look away from Akane's harsh face. "Yes... _sister_."

* * *

><p>My mouth opened wide as I barely managed to gasp, "I- <em>what?!<em>"

The girl winked at me, sticking out her tongue, "You'll find out soon enough, gaki."

She disappeared into thin air like a dispelled summon, leaving me completely and utterly alone on this barren-

_Shoreline?!_

The genjutsu had been dispelled, revealing the familiar craggy shoreline of what appeared to be the south-west edge of the island. From where I stood, I could see the Harry Tree, a local landmark from the Founder's Era. Rumor has it that a family of cannibals had once taken refuge beneath it, and had lured their victims to their imminent demise from within it... but they hadn't been seen for years. Rumor has it, that if you stand beneath the Harry Tree in the dead of night, you will be able to see headless bodies swinging from it's branches. The founders of Kirigakure had kept it far outside the village boundaries for that very reason- it was likely possessed by the vengeful dead. As far as I knew, the Harry Tree was roughly twenty kilometes from the village. When I had departed from home, I had been in what was almost the center of Kirigakure. It was amazing- and a little disturbing- to find out that I had managed to get so far from home without knowing it.

_And near such a morbid site... _

"You figured that out pretty quick, little girl," A familiar, ambiguous voice murmured from behind me.

_No, it couldn't be..._

I willed myself not to jump in surprise, preferring to pretend I had been aware of their presence the entire time. I slow turned around to face the owner of said voice and almost choked.

That wasn't who I had been expecting.

"About time you came out of your hiding place. You must be a pretty pathetic excuse for a ninja if I could sense you this entire time." I breathed, lying through my teeth.

"Ano- Chinatsu-san, please don't say such mean things about me!" My uncle whimpered, pale arms flailing as crocodile tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

I sighed, burying my face in the palms of my hands. My uncle was a complete and utter simpering fool. He was the true heir to the head of the Hozuki clan, but was too soft-hearted and silly to be anything other than a low-ranking member. My mother could hardly tolerate him, and they had been raised together, forever competing for the position of clan head.

Then again, my mother could hardly tolerate anyone.

_Not even me..._

As if she she had heard my thoughts, my mother's chakra signature suddenly appeared nearby, a tell-tale sign of chakra cloaking. My original assumption had been correct then- my mother had been the one to speak, not my uncle.

"Speak of the devil," I muttered.

"What were you saying about me, gaki?!" My mother hissed, cold fingers wrapped around my neck.

I glared at her, completely ignoring her question. Until she explained what was going on, I wasn't going to give her _anything. _My business was mine and mine alone. If she wanted me to come clean, she'd have to do the same herself.

My mother released my neck, eyes narrowed dangerously. She reared back and slapped my cheek as hard as she could. I did not flinch. My mother had always been this way, preferring physical means of punishment for disrespect rather than verbal ones. I had expected this from her.

It didn't hurt, anyway.

Well, it did. A little. But I was never going to tell her that. When you fought against my mother, no matter the medium- physical, mental, or verbal- it always turned into a battle of wills. My mother did not loose because she never relented, and neither would I.

"Fancy seeing you here," I murmured flatly, "Care to explain, Mother?"

Her eyes flashed, but she did not move. My mother's body was very stiff and rigid, as if she was bracing herself for a reaction of some kind. As odd as this was, I thought nothing of it. My mother did not show fear. Instead, she showed caution.

"Ano, Akane-sama-" Uncle began, high voice cutting through my thoughts like a well-aimed kunai.

My mother raised her hand, effectively silencing him with a single gesture. Her hands snaked around my shoulders, well-manicured fingertips digging into the delicate flesh of my collarbones. "Quiet, Ryouta. This is _my _daughter, not yours. Go back to your fat child and coddle her, but don't try to do the same with mine."

I stared at her. While my mother and I were very much one and the same in our opinions on Suijin, my uncle's daughter, I couldn't believe she had pointedly claimed me as her own. She seemed to prefer to pretend that I didn't exist rather than treat me like her own flesh and blood.

_What a bizarre day it has been..._

Uncle's mouth dropped open and I sighed, not wanting to have to deal with a sniveling thirty-year-old man. My mother had an innate talent for disappearing when the waterworks started...

Suijin's father was certainly an odd man. He was so soft and frail, yet he never seemed to have been defeated in battle. My Uncle seemed to honestly care for his daughter in ways unfamiliar to me. He loved to stuff her with food and let her skip out on training, as long as she was happy. Suijin was free to do as she pleased, while I wasn't allowed outside of the Hozuki compound without supervision...

_I am so totally screwed._

Not only had I left the compound without supervision, I had managed to get twenty kilometers away from _the village_ itself before anyone had stopped me. I had never been this far away before. And now, there was a dead Kaguya in my bedroom, who's blood had _definitely _stained my carpet. Not only was I in trouble- I was _dead. _

I had never understood why my parents were against allowing me outside of the compound. I knew it wasn't one of those "clan things" because it only seemed to effect me. I could do whatever I wanted inside our property line, but the moment I stepped outside it everyone was on edge. My father, who was the most easy-going out of anyone in my family, would instantly stiffen and rush after me, but leave my cousins where they stood. It was completely illogical and had never once been explained.

As per usual, nothing was making any sense.

"You didn't answer my question, Mother," I drawled.

My mother scowled at me, facial features contorting into that of a blood thirsty demon for a fraction of a second. Her fingersnails dug deeper into the flesh of my skin, but I didn't feel a thing. Chakra depletion was beginning to take a heavy toll on me, and I could feel myself slipping deeper into a state of dehydration as the seconds ticked by. The longer I was forced to stand, the more weakened I would grow.

_Not good... At this rate, I'll be out of it before we reach the compound._

"Move your sorry ass, Chinatsu." She barked, pushing me forward with the bottom of her sandal-clad foot.

_Typical. Won't tell me a damn thing._

My snarky thoughts were abruptly cut off as my body titled forward, vision blurring. I collapsed on the ground, gasping for air as my heart pounded erratically.  
><em>Water! I need water!<em>

Everything went black.

* * *

><p>I jerked upwards, gasping for breath. My stomach churned and I felt almost <em>sticky <em>with perspiration. It was almost as if I had just awoken from a nightmare.

But I hadn't.

_This was real._

My mother stood over me, lanky figure blocking out any source of light behind her. Her eyes were dark, her pupils dilated enough to cover almost her entire iris. Her icy breath fanned out across my face with each exhalation, moving my bangs ever so slightly.

"You're grounded," She said, _finally,_ "And... no plums for a week."

_What?! That's it? Is she joking or...?_

"Are you sure?" I rasped, throat dangerously dry.

She wrinkled her nose, somehow managing to make an ordinarily cute expression look snide when she used it. I mirrored her expression, widening my eyes and scrunching up my nose until I looked just like her. It was almost horrifying how much we looked alike, even in the dark like this. My father had always said that I took after my mother. In some ways, I supposed I had. We both had the same violet eyes and windburned cheeks, but my skin was darker than my mother's bone-white, almost pallid complexion. Her hair was a shock of bright white whereas mine was more of a muted, fading blue. My mother looked more like a ghost than a human being, with blood-red lips and long, white eyelashes, a sneer almost always etched onto her face. She was terrifying and gruesome, and _I hated her_.

She was nothing like me, and I was nothing like her. We weren't the same and we never would be. I hated being compared to her, and being called "Little Akane" as if I didn't have a name already. I would never be my mother, no matter how badly everyone else wanted me to be...

_Not even if she wanted me to._

"Of course I'm sure. I'm always right. You know that." My mother drawled, sickly sweet voice jolting me out of my thoughts.

I jerked away from her, slumping back onto the unfamiliar cot. This wasn't my room, I was sure of it. I wasn't even sure this was my house, now that I thought about it. The ceiling was slated with smooth, wooden planks whereas my bedroom had stucco-patterned whitewash.

"Ungrateful gaki," Mother spat, fingernails digging into my wrist as she spoke.

Suddenly, it dawned on me. We must be in her room. Not the room she shared with my father, but her personal room, the one she had occupied as "princess" of the clan before marriage. This was my mother's personal suite, occupied exclusively by her. No one, not even the maid, was allowed inside. This room was effectively my mother's inner sanctum, and she wanted no one but herself inside it.

Clearly, she was going to kill me. Why else would she have brought me here? Not out of love, that's for sure. My mother didn't love anyone- not even my father as far as I knew.

"Stop looking at me like that, Chinatsu!" She barked.

Something about the way she said that _enraged _me. What right did she have to speak me like this?!

"Like what? Like you've looked at me my entire life? With disgust?!" I shouted, attempting to push her away.

She didn't move a single centimeter. Instead, she froze in place, staring at me with her wide, dark eyes.

"Chinatsu... is that what you really think?" She whispered, fingernails threatening to tear through the delicate flesh around my wrists if I let her push any harder.

I struggled to push her hands off of me before simply liquifying my limbs and slipping away from her sickly pale form. I wasn't going to answer her, not until she answered me. _It was none of her business, anyway._

I intended to run out of the room or maybe leak through the floorboard, but my body felt like it was _on fire_ when I tried to move. Even in my liquidized form, I was weak and runny like day-old eggs.

"What did you do?!" I rasped, slumping against the floorboards like a stringless puppet.

My mother's shadow loomed over me, but she didn't move in the slightest. She just stood there, watching me with the sickest, most gruesome smirk I had ever seen on a human being etched on her doll-like face. She didn't even _blink_.

I shivered, feeling as if a thousand spiders were crawling beneath my skin, but could hardly move from where I laid on the floor. She'd kill me now, I was sure of it. I could see it in her eyes- fragments of insanity were finally coming together.

"Listen, you ungrateful piece of shit," Mother growled, "I'll say this only once: You passed."

"Passed what? I never took any tests!"

She was referring to the girl and the fire, that much I knew, but it couldn't have been a test. A genjutsu, definitely, but not a test. Putting me through a trivial, insignificant test using such a high level genjutsu was an honest waste. My mother didn't like to waste things- except people, that is- and I honestly doubted she would even bother wasting anything on me. My entire life had been structured simply, planned by her from the sidelines and executed _flawlessly. _I had been given the resources to live- food, water, clothing and the like- but no extras. My mother didn't believe in trivial, pointless items like toys or fancy clothes. She had always given me what I needed and almost never what I wanted in order to make certain that nothing would ever be wasted. I had books about ninja wars and weaponry but none of the delicate dolls girls my age seemed to adore. My entertainment was not truly meant to be entertainment. It was meant for its single, utilitarian purpose- to make me stronger. This way, my mother's efforts would be repaid in full.

It was the process of Equivalent Exchange.

"Tch, don't play dumb with me. I know you're smarter than this. If you weren't, you wouldn't have figured it out by now," My mother drawled, finally coming into the light.

I sighed with relief as she came into better view. She was much less disturbing this way, when I could see her face and laugh inwardly at the fact that if you squinted, it looked like she had no eyebrows. At this angle, my mother looked almost _normal, _like the sort of mother that made bentos and sewed dresses and didn't call their daughters "little shit" more often than their own names.

But then she smiled, I remembered she _wasn't. _

"You passed," She repeated, picking at her jagged teeth with the edge of a well manicured fingernail.

"You've said that already," I hissed, struggling to push myself up off the floor.

My mother's cool hands wrapped around my ankle and she dragged me backwards across the floorboards, friction burning my back.

"Shut up for a minute and let me fuckin' talk," She growled.

I did.

My mother dug in her pockets for a moment, pulling out a package of cigarettes. She extracted one from the package before spitting out just enough fire to light the end. Smoke filled the room seconds later and I gagged, covering my nose with the collar of my nightdress.

_Disgusting!_

"I'll explain, then." She said, _finally. _"Your father was very against you becoming a ninja from a young age. It was because of your small, weak body that he kept you out of the Academy this year. You've been sickly most of your life, Chinatsu, yet you are so set on becoming a shinobi that you couldn't care less about what will happen to you if you try. The Mizukage saw this and devised a simple plan to test your worth."

She paused for a moment, taking a huge breath of smoke before continuing. "I agreed automatically, and we decided to test you. As you likely deduced, there is, in fact, a war going on amongst us Kiri nin, but you didn't go out into it. You were trapped in a genjutsu before you even awoke, thanks to one of the Akiyama Clan's finest men. Suijin and Sumiko were diversions, but they were real. Sumiko knew ahead of time, but Suijin didn't."

I fumed, fists clenched tightly as I struggled to keep my composure. My own father thought I wasn't ninja material!? That in itself was far more insulting than this 'test' or the genjutsu. I could live with deceit, but being thought of as weak was a sin beyond compare. I _despised _weakness.

"You did alright, I guess. You didn't do much of anything except piss your opponent off, but you didn't die so I guess it's alright. You thought fast enough to save your skin, which is _alright. _You did better than I thought you would, but I would have let you die if you hadn't figured it out by then. Unfortunately, you did."

My right eyebrow twitched, but I didn't react beyond that. Truthfully, I didn't know how to. As ridiculous as this entire process sounded, I had no way of proving my mother wrong and was forced to simply take her word for it. The very idea of believing in her at all made my stomach churn with worry. My mother was not one to be taken lightly or underestimated, that was for sure.

She turned to open a window, spitting the remnants of the half-chewed cigarette outside before slamming it shut again. She wiped her mouth on the edge of her shirt sleeve and grinned at me, jagged teeth and all.

"You start Academy tomorrow, Little Shit. Don't be late."

* * *

><p>Gaki- brat.<p>

Ano- um (implies low self-esteem and nervousness)

Note: Kirigakure is on an island, so Chinatsu thinks of it as such. When she says "the island" she just means Kiri or the Land of Water itself.

Mark: Yes, it is a bloodline :) The Lava Release is simply a very difficult to control bloodline, and that's why she reacted that way to it. All of the jutsus in canon are either A or B ranked, and since she assumed the girl was her age, it surprised her a lot more than it would have if an adult had used it. The Lava Release is known for being exceptionally difficult to wield because of how powerful it is. As for how the Hydrification Technique can be used, I believe it could work in a similar manner to Zetsu's underground travel if the wielder is experienced enough at breaking down their body. Chinatsu isn't at that age yet, but she might figure it out eventually if she keeps at it. Great points from you, as always!

Thank you all for the great comments! I was really glad some of you liked my fight scene, and I hope I can improve on them so that they will be better soon. So, so sorry for the lateness! I was sick and had writers block at the same time, joy.

-MSM-


	8. Chapter Seven:

**Chapter Seven: Last Minute Preparations  
><strong>

"It's sick and twisted and violent. Other than that, it is totally G rated."  
>― Elizabeth Cruickshank<p>

...

I had a thousand questions and absolutely no answers. My logic had failed me yet again, leaving me in a dangerous position far too close to the unknown. The lack of information unnerved me, as it always had. This, I was sure, my mother knew.

She smirked, blood-red lips curving upwards in a sinister smile, but offered me no additional information. My mother simply rose to her feet and stepped over me, sakura-pink kimono swishing as she sashayed out the door. The door slid shut behind her, and I heard the telltale click of a lock snapping shut. I swallowed hard, throat suddenly cotton dry.

"I said you were grounded, didn't I?" My mother said with an almost girlish giggle, her voice sounding almost strained through the material of the door.

I didn't quite catch the meaning of her words when I first heard them. I don't know what I thought she meant, but I know I was very, very wrong.

My eyes flashed with uncertainty as realization washed over me like a tsunami wave. My mother intended to torture me. She had planned to leave me here from the very beginning, dehydrated and alone except for my thoughts. The idea of being locked in this room was terrifying enough, but the symptoms of dehydration were far more unnerving. That alone could kill me.

But it was the idea of being in a room occupied solely by my thoughts that made my blood run cold. My brain was a horrible, deep labyrinth filled to the brim with monsters and ghosts of memories. I did not like to be alone with my own mind for fear of what could come out of it. It was because of this that I read almost constantly and cleaned my room more frequently than a child my age would. I couldn't stand my thoughts or the directions my brain went in whenever I gave it a chance. I kept myself occupied to eliminate its chances of ever allowing my darkest thoughts to surface. I had seen too many things to keep up the façade of an innocent child any longer. My mother knew this. She knew it well and she exploited it. Not just once, but many times. I spent far too long locked inside a room, in this cage of a compound without her having to push me any farther. But she did. _And she loved it._

I stayed as still as possible as my heartbeat pounded in my ears and my joints locked up with dehydration. I thought of _nothing _at all for as long as I possibly could, but quickly surrendered to the whims of my mind as dehydration consumed me.

_Please, someone let me out!_

As if granting my prayers, the door reopened for a fraction of a second and a bottle of water was clumsily hurled inside. I recognized a familiar set of chubby fingers and the edge of an even more familiar dark-blue haori.

_Suijin... But why?_

Before I could say anything or even move, the door was slammed shut and the lock was reset, leaving me completely and utterly alone. Frantically, I reached for the water and unscrewed the lid, ignoring the sharp pain in my joints that twinged every time I so much as moved. I gulped the majority of its contents down in a single gulp, leaving only a little of the precious liquid in the container. My throat still burned, but I was _alive, _and that was far better than being dead.

I swallowed the rest of the water without a second thought, as foolish as it may have been. I couldn't have cared less for proper planning at that time. I wanted water and I wanted it _now,_ regardless of the repercussions. I had no idea how long I was going to be in this room, but I assumed I would be in here until morning. My mother's speech had left me with so many unanswered questions, but I had managed to get the gist of what she was saying.

I would enter the Academy tomorrow, completely on my own. As far as I knew, I was the only person in my clan that would be doing so. I didn't know anyone besides the members of my clan and a few of my father's friends, and no one I knew was heading to the Academy this year. I knew Suijin would be waiting another year, and Sumiko had already graduated. I wouldn't have any friends, but I supposed that was for the best. I had never been very good at friends in the first place, idea of entering the Academy was nerve-wracking, to be honest. I had assumed that I would be prepared for this day, but I wasn't. I didn't have any shinobi attire aside from my frumpy quipao- and _everyone _wore those- or any of my own weapons, bone sword notwithstanding. My sandals were old and well-used, but they would undoubtedly look shabby compared to my classmates'. They already looked bad when I compared them to Sumiko's, and she was a working genin shinobi. I just _knew _I would look stupid, and that no one would like me right away. I wasn't like other kids that liked to play with toys and throw dirt at one another. I read, slept, and practiced throwing senbon at my walls when I thought no one was looking. I was "weird", according to Suijin, who was surprisingly popular amongst her peers.

I swallowed, feeling a knot of nerves settle in the pit of my stomach and filling me with dread. I was _doomed. _There was no way I'd be able to make friends as easily as my cousins did. Suijin was extremely gregarious and in-your-face when she wanted to be, and Sumiko was quietly alluring- like the finest of poisons. I was just _there_, like a stagnant creek.

I sat up, sighing with relief as the water began working its way through my system. I could already feel it in every fiber of my being, soaking through my skin and swirling through my chakra system. Silently, I blessed Suijin's meager existence for what was likely the first and only time I'd ever do so. I was far from being in top condition, but thanks to her water, I was better off than before.

_Now... How to get out of this room... The door might be unlocked...  
><em>

I shakily pushed myself up off the floor and onto my feet, gripping the side of my mother's cot in order to steady myself. I managed to right myself and pushed away from the cot, stumbling like a drunk over to the door. I pulled on it several times with all of my strength, but the door wouldn't budge. Growling to myself, I stomped over to the small, single window on the right wall. While my irritation did nothing to make me feel better, the stomping had made it easier for me to walk in a straight line. The window was a bit too high up for me to reach properly, much to my chagrin. I tried jumping, but I couldn't get high enough up to grab onto the window frame properly. I kicked the wall repeatedly out of pure frustration, no longer caring what my mother thought. It was her fault I was here at all! If she hadn't locked me in this stupid room in the first place, she wouldn't have scuff marks all over her formerly impeccable white walls.

I'd had at least two temper tantrums, I _still_ couldn't grab onto the damn windowsill. Mentally, I cursed my petite frame as I was forced to push the entire cot over to the window in order to climb on top of it to reach the window. My arms shook with effort and I scowled at my own weakness, pushing even harder against the cot's metal frame. Finally, the far side of the cot was touching against the wall, and I was able to climb on top of the mattress and unlock the window. I struggled to pull myself up high enough to actually climb out of it, but I was finally able to after I used the wall for leverage.

I clumsily toppled out of the window and splattered on the ground like a broken egg. I was certain, as I had been for a long time, that I would probably be dead if not for the Hozuki Clan techniques. I was simply that clumsy, as ridiculous as it was. I supposed I could blame my lack of grace on my lack of training, or simply my short temper, but I still found excuses hard to swallow. My pride was bigger than my body, that was for sure.

I waited the agonizing twenty-something minutes it took for my body to reform before jumping to my feet and jogging towards the front gates of the compound. I had planned to sneak out of the compound and defy my mother entirely for as long as possible until I was dragged back home by one of her many subordinates, but my father spotted me before I could even unlatch the gate.

_Here comes another lecture, _I thought, _fabulous. _Say what you will about my mother, but she didn't drag things out. My father was the opposite. He danced around topics with incredible grace that only an ANBU level shinobi could possibly possess, hiding his true feelings behind a carefully constructed defense. If he was angry at me as well, then I'd be forced to sit through at least forty-five minutes of nothing but my father droning on and on, saying things like, "you disappointed yourself, not me," and "the victim here is _you._" Personally, I never felt disappointed with myself during those instances, nor had I ever felt like a victim. If my father would actually pay attention, he'd see that he was wasting his efforts on a person like me, someone who hardly cared about anything except myself.

But he didn't.

"Oh, Natsu-chan! What are you doing out here? Did your mother send you to come shopping with me?" My father asked, sounding far too cheerful to be in the middle of a war.

_It's Chinatsu, you fool. You named me, you should know. _

He was the same as always, deluded with innocence and about as shallow as a kiddie pool. It was funny how opposite our attitudes were- me, the distant observer, and my father, the in-your-face power. It should have been the opposite, to some extent, but it wasn't. My father had lived through two wars _at least_, yet he still allowed himself to be twisted and deceived by people like my mother. Unlike him, I saw everything for what it was- genjutsus notwithstanding. I was a child in body but not in the mind. In my own head, I was truly twisted.

_Oh, father. If only you knew..._

"Yes," I lied.

He grinned, jagged teeth coming into view for a fraction of a second before his mouth closed yet again. "Great! I was worried about the sizes, but now I don't need to bother. You can just try it on!"

I cocked my head to the side in a show of coy confusion. "Try on what?"

"She didn't tell you? I'm taking you to buy some equipment and new clothes. You can't go running around Academy in your playclothes, can you?" Father explained, humming slightly to himself.

_So that's it, _I mused, _Clothes! _One of my earlier, dehydration-induced worries would be put to rest, it seemed. Maybe I didn't have anything to be concerned about, after all!

"No, she told me," I continued to spin my earlier lie, preparing myself to set up an elaborate, _deadly_ trap, "I just forgot."

_No, I didn't. But you wouldn't know that, would you?_

"No worries then!" My father chirped, turning to the gate and pulling it open.

_A war doesn't worry you then? _I couldn't help but wonder how he seemed to chipper and bright when everything around us was literally ripping apart the seams. His comrades were being murdered, if what Sumiko and Suijin had said was anything to go by, and he didn't seem to care at all.

_Maybe we aren't so unalike, after all..._

The force-field like barrier jutsu parted in the middle and allowed us to step out of the compound before closing behind us. That was another one of my grandmother's works- a protection so strong that it was almost impenetrable. It was known as the "Iron Water" seal, formulated specifically for use by the Hozuki alone. The seal allowed us to pass through it from within the barrier but didn't allow outsiders inside without a complicated set of hand seals and passwords. It may have been a little overkill in terms of security, but I had no complaints. Anything to protect the Clan Techniques.

From here on out, it was a quick five minute sprint to the inner-village. From where I stood, I could see the stone stairwells that led to the Mizukage's tower and the main street. The ocean was visible just to my left, but buildings and rocky crags rose on my right.

_Finally, out of the compound without Mother breathing down my neck..._

"So, clothes or equipment first?" Father asked, preparing to break into a solid sprint.

"Weapons." Clothes could wait, or never happen, for all I cared. I wanted kunai, shuriken, and senbon. I _needed _them. I had enough clothing for now, even if they were a little on the shabby side, they fulfilled their purpose

Without waiting for him, I launched into the air and onto the upper steps before breaking out in a run. My father was faster than me, without a doubt, but I wanted the satisfaction of getting _anywhere _before he could. I had to at least _try. _Quickly, I zeroed in on the only weaponry retailer I knew by name- the Ushiwakamaru Trading Post- and raced towards it. I skidded to a stop in front of the cement building, sandals scuffing against the rough tiles that decorate the ground. My father slid up behind me, his body reconnecting at an impressively fast rate as he rose from beneath the earth.

"Cheater," I said, even though we had never agreed to race.

My father had obviously used his modified version of the 'Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu'* in order to slip under my radar- literally- and catch up to me with little effort. My legs were shaking with strain yet my father didn't even looked moderately tired- he had the gall to look _bored _instead. Scowling, I kicked at the ground and wished I was faster... perhaps even as fast as Namikaze Minato, Konohagakure's legendary Yellow Flash.

Maybe, then, I would be able to beat my father.

"You can't cheat when there are no rules," He replied, sticking out his tongue at me.

_Childish, childish man..._

"There are always rules, Father. Life is filled with them." I replied cryptically, knowing it would confuse him.

"EH?! AND WHEN HAVE YOU LISTENED TO RULES?!" Father shrieked, shaking his fists at me.

_His temper is just as bad as mine, _I thought, _Maybe those things do run in the family._

I scoffed, turning away from him in an attempt to look cool and detached, but accidentally wound up kicking up a cloud of dust. I coughed awkwardly, crossing my arms and pretending I had planned to do that in the first place. "Quit whining, you're a grown man."

My father looked as if he was about to retort, but I was through waiting for him to reply, I pushed open the cool glass doors and entered the Ushiwakamaru family's building. I had only been here once before, when Mangetsu was being outfitted with new blades after his old ones shattered from overuse. Back then, it had been all about _him, _the 'wonderful' Hozuki Mangetsu who clearly never did anything wrong.

This time, it would be all about _me. _

"Chinatsu-kun, I'm glad to see you are well," Ushiwakamaru Junpei, the building's current owner, said with a gentle smile.

His jagged teeth looked out of place alongside the rest of his face, which was almost doll-like in proportion. However, I knew very well that he was far from fragile. Ushiwakamaru Junpei had once been a candidate for a position within the famed Seven Swordsmen, much like Mangetsu in his youth. However, he had been rendered useless for quite some time after an Iwagakure shinobi had almost gutted him during an infiltration mission. He was far from the man he once was, but Ushiwakamaru Junpei didn't play by anyone's rules but his own. He was still a fearsome opponent even now, and the only man my father trusted to provide his weapons. He was one of the few people I felt truly deserved my respect.

"Thank you, Junpei-san."

Junpei turned to my father in an almost expectant manner, raising a thin cerulean brow. "Academy?"

My father nodded, looking almost sheepish. "Was it that obvious?"

"Yes," Junpei said flatly, looking almost- dare I say it- _amused_.

"Ah, well... We're going to need the standard kunai and shuriken-" My father began, ticking off the items in his head as he went along.

"Senbon. I want senbon, too," I interrupted, tugging on my father's shirtsleeve.

Senbon were the only melee weapons I had any true experience with. I knew my blades well, but I had been practicing my senbon tossing skills since I was at least five, when children here normally entered the Academy. I could hit 89 out of 100 targets now- not great, but better than nothing at all. I knew that if I had senbon of my own to practice properly with, I would improve.

"Dear, don't you think those are a bit out of your league?"

Senbon were the most difficult of the three common core weapons. They were meant for spreading poisons and hitting arteries, but didn't normally kill right away. Kunai and shuriken were more practical, able to both cause damage and block attacks whereas the senbon could only be used offensively. They weren't a first choice for many people, normally used only by hunter nin.

But I could use them. In fact, they were _all _I could use. My mother had never left any kunai laying around that I could have borrowed, and I had been forced to settle with senbon. I didn't know much about the other two, aside from what they looked like and how they were supposed to be used. I'd never handled a shuriken before, and only messed around with a kunai a few times. I needed _something _that I was familiar with.

"No. Nothing is out of my league." I said, setting my jaw with determination.

Junpei nodded before turning to my father, "She needs them anyway, why not? If she can't use them at first, then she can learn. Nothing is a waste when you have determination like that."

_I can already use them! _I thought, struggling to resist the urge to sulk. I had worked hard on improving my accuracy, I really had. Melee weapons hadn't come easy to me, and no one had ever taught me how to use them. What little I could do was self-taught and I had worked hard for it. They weren't even going to give me _a little _credit. It stung, being slighted like that.

My father glanced back and forth between us in an almost comedic manner, grinning widely. "Ganging up on me already, are you?"

I just glared at him.

"Ooh, nice," Junpei said, "You've got a great glare."

He tossed me a package of senbon, neatly tied together inside a wad of dark grey fabric. There weren't many inside, probably only about fifty, but it was enough for now. I wouldn't need more for quite some time, until I was a genin and going on actual missions.

"Thanks," I said dumbly.

"It's no trouble," Junpei assures me, "Do your best in the Academy, Chinatsu-kun."

I nodded, clutching the package tightly in my left hand.

"Now, does she need anything else besides the kunai and shuriken? Has she got a sword yet?" Junpei asked, preparing to slip behind the counter and dig out a set of both.

"Oh!" My father cried, slapping a hand against his forehead, "I forgot to ask you that, didn't I?"

He turned to me, crouching down so that he was on my level. "Natsu-chan, are you going to use one of Mangetsu's old-"

"**No**."

My tone must have surprised both of them, because my father jumped up onto Junpei's desk and drew his sword, whereas Junpei just dropped a bunch of kunai all over the floor in surprise.

_ANBUs my ass..._

"Okay, okay," My father tried to pacify me, "Bad idea on my part. I'm sorry, really."

Junpei continued to stare at me as if I was some sort of unearthly entity for a good two seconds before shaking his head and crouching down to pick up the dropped kunai. I probably should have helped him, as I was the cause of his clumsiness, but I didn't. I was far too preoccupied by my father, who was currently _still _perched on top of the damn desk as if he was awaiting an enemy attack, regardless of the fact that he _knew _it was me. And I was seven years old and three-foot-five on a good day, _if _that. Plus, he saw me everyday, even if we almost never spoke to one another and he never bothered to seek me out of his own accord. We were a detached sort of father and daughter, watching each other from afar yet almost never interacting. If anything, he should at least have realized I wasn't a threat by now.

"Get off the furniture!" I demanded, stomping my feet to punctuate my words.

"She's right, Makoto. There really isn't a reason for you to be standing on top of the desk in the first place, and I'd like it if you'd get off. _Now._" Junpei quipped. His tone was light and almost cheerful, but his eyes glinted with a dangerous sharpness that made me question his sanity.

"Fine, fine," My father said, hopping down from the desk and landing in a crouched position on the floor. "Now, where were we?"

"Swords," I said, prodding his shoulder with the tip of my index finger to keep his attention.

"Right!" He cried, raising his fist in a manner I could only assume was meant to be uplifting.

_This is going to take awhile..._

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note:<span>

*- Earth Release: Underground Projection

Also 3 foot 5 is normal height for a seven year old, I googled it. Surprising, no?

Mark: Damnit man, stop seeing through my plot lines! Just joking, but no, really, you're too good at this. I was setting up for a future plot twist and you spotted it right away. Am I that predictable? Do tell me, as I'm very nervous at the idea of being so.

I tried to right Chinatsu as having some child-like insecurities about school and not having any friends. I know I was the same way at her age... But I don't know if I wrote it well, so I apologize in advance. Plus writers block TT-TT This chapter is just not my best. Next one should be more interesting, as this one really isn't.

Thanks very much to my great new readers who reviewed to me~ 10th Squad 3rd Seat, FashionablyHospitable, and guisniperman!

-MSM-


	9. Chapter Eight:

**Chapter Eight: The Truth Comes Out  
><strong>

"Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does."  
>― Margaret Atwood<p>

. . .

_This is going to take awhile... _I had thought.

I was right.

Never in my life had I seen my father so focused. He was generally very jittery and almost never gave you his full attention, preferring to keep his mind elsewhere even when dealing with people like my mother. My father was a bright ray of sunshine, but had a dark side that not even I dared to tangle with. He was Hozuki Makoto, the former prodigy of the Seven Swordsmen. He had once wielded the Hiramekarei*, but had passed it on to Mangetsu when I turned four. I still couldn't believe he had given up so much honor for the sake of my cousin, who wouldn't have done the same for him. My father was just excitable, he was _stupid. _I would have never given up arguably the second most powerful sword in all of Kirigakure just because Mangetsu asked for it. He had once been so honorable that I had been excited to call myself his daughter. Now, he was just a man- just an ordinary man.

"I think she just start out with a tantō," My father insisted, speaking more to Junpei than me.

"I disagree, Makoto. Chinatsu doesn't need a standard dagger to start off with. It's only going to limit her progress with kenjutsu. What she needs is something she can use to take an opponent's head off without much effort. If you send her out with _just_ a dagger, she's sharkbait." Junpei said.

"Well, what do you suggest then, if you suddenly know so much?" My father shot back, his tone dangerously snarky.

I glanced back and forth between the two of them, fearing the worst. Both of these men were incredibly stubborn and incredibly experienced kenjutsu specialists. Neither of them were going to let up any time soon, I could tell.

I trusted Junpei more than my own father at this point. Junpei owned a weapons retailer, for Kami's sake! He _knew _what he was talking about, but my father was too hard-headed to listen. I respected my father's kenjutsu knowledge as well, but to a lesser degree. He had just _given up _his position amongst the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, which made me question his over-all intelligence. Becoming a member of the Seven Swordsmen was the greatest honor besides the title of Mizukage available in Kirigakure. The Swordsmen were... the best. They were the most talented members of their generation.

I wanted to become a Swordsmen more than anything else. They were so _incredibly _powerful and well-respected amongst the villagers that I just couldn't help myself. Everyone in my family looked up to Mangetsu, _respected him. _I wanted to be like that- idolized, trusted, _acknowledged. _I wanted everyone to know my name and the power I possessed. I was sick and tired of sitting on the sidelines, watching everyone else have their time in the sun whereas I was forced to stay in their shadows.

No longer would I watch them. They would be watching me.

I had been named after my grandmother, arguably the strongest kunoichi to have _ever_ come out of Kirigakure, and I was yet to do anything worthy of my name. _Yes_, I had killed the Kaguya woman, but that was hardly noteworthy. Suigetsu had taken down four men at the age of three, whereas I had only managed to kill one out of sheer luck. If I wanted to prove myself, I needed to train harder than everyone else did, fight harder, _improve. _I had natural talent, I was sure I did, but I was yet to realize my full potential. I didn't know where I would go or what I would do with my future, so I was frantically trying to do everything at once. I didn't know what I wanted to specialize it- kenjutsu was expected, but I needed more substance than just _that_. Almost everyone in Kirigakure used a sword, and another Hozuki clumsily throwing around a blade would be hardly original. Of course, I wanted to use swords, but not just swords. I didn't want to be one of those fools that was easily defeated once disarmed, too focused on a single aspect of my skillset to allow for anything else. I needed to find my personal shtick, my greatest strength, to truly unlock my power.

My uncle, the honorable Nidaime Mizukage, hadn't been anything special as a child, but had grown incredibly strong with the addition of his summoning technique. He had then modified our clan techniques to allow for maximum destruction, ingeniously mixing toxic oil with his own water to kill his enemies in record time. He hadn't been a natural genius, but he had grown incredibly powerful and had eventually become the Mizukage. I wasn't anything special _yet_ but I knew I would be. I just had to find my strengths and build them up, just like he had. Maybe, one day, I could become the Mizukage as well...

"NATSU! YOU AREN'T LISTENING TO ME!" My father shrieked, jolting me out of my thoughts.

I glanced up at him, quirking a brow. "Are you done squabbling over nothing yet?"

My father was about to retort when Junpei cut him off, slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Yes," Junpei assured me.

He was distracted seconds later when my father bit his hand and blood began dripping out of his palm in globs of dark, dangerous red. It looked painful, but Junpei didn't seem to react to the injury aside from eying it carefully. I scooted forward, watching with morbid fascination as Junpei quietly bandaged his palm, quelling the blood-flow for a few moments until he could better heal it later. Non-Hozuki had such _beautiful _blood...

"We were saying," My father said with a scowl, "That we've come to a consensus. I think that you should use a katana, but Junpei insists that you use a naginata. We were wondering which one you preferred."

I blinked. _Oh, so now he's asking me. I bet he thinks I'll side with him, doesn't he?_

My father unsheathed his sword, tapping it with the tip of his index finger.

"Katana," He said, needlessly.

_I know what a katana looks like, Father, _I thought sullenly, _I'm not stupid._

Junpei pulled a strange, pole-like weapon from behind his back, tossing it towards me with a flick of his wrist. I caught it, but just barely. The naginata was _enormous. _It wasn't necessarily wide like the Hiramekarei was, but it had a long, curve-tipped blade on the end that made me think of the ax-like war scythes I had seen on display last time I had been here. The naginata, from tip to base, was at least five feet in length and was most certainly bigger than my entire body. It wasn't heavy, but it was _tall._

"How do you use this thing?" I asked, struggling to stand it up-right without stabbing a hole through Junpei's desk.

Junpei motioned for me to pass him the blade, and then stood up, taking the distinctive 'Dancing Water Dragon' fighting stance- a style of fighting I would be learning in the Academy soon enough. Quickly, he spun around, hooking and seamlessly shifting left and right. The reach of the naginata was incredibly long, hooking into the neck of a practice dummy Junpei had previously been displaying with a dangerous ease. The head dropped from the severed neck of the dummy with a hollow thunk. The entire process had taken _less_ than five seconds.

"Like that," Junpei said.

I gaped at him, my mouth opening and closing like that of a fish. "Can I do that?!"

_Forget katana! Did you see that incredible decapitation?! _I cheered inwardly.

"With practice, yes. The naginata is perfect for decapitation, and works well with techniques like the Silent Killing. I think you could become quite powerful with this sword, Chinatsu-kun." Junpei said, handing it back to me.

"_Powerful my ass!_ She can't even stand the damn thing upright!" My father cried.

This was true. I was far too short to be using a weapon this size, even if I could lift it. It _was _too big for me, unfortunately. _There goes my luck, _I thought sadly.

"Nonsense," Junpei said, "I can give her a modified, smaller version now, and a standard sized one later, when she grows into it. I just didn't have one on hand for her to try when I pulled this one out. I can go dig one out of the store-room if you'd like."

"Please do," I said, hardly able to contain my excitement. With a weapon like this, I would be unstoppable. If I worked on my speed and agility, I could become a formidable assassin and maybe even utilize the famed Silent Killing technique. I could do anything I wanted now, with the proper weapon.

Junpei slipped behind the counter, pushing through a set of curtains that seemed to be the entrance to his storage facilities. I hopped in place while we waited, unable to shake the giddy feeling from my bones. I couldn't believe I'd found something this unique in Junpei's store. I had expected to walk out with a standard katana or maybe a yari like the one my mother used, but never a naginata. I hadn't even known there was such a thing until just a few minutes before.

_Look out Academy! I'm coming to tear you up!_

**. . .**

We waited for Junpei to come out of the storage room for at least half an hour. By this time, my father had already given me a lecture on "upholding family morale" and had told me that I needed to "stick to the goddamned program for once, young lady." Clearly, my father was upset with my choice in weaponry. I had chosen to forgo the katana- the only kenjutsu weapon I had any honest experience with- for a strange, too-big-for-me weapon that he obviously didn't think was appropriate. I did my best to ignore him. The naginata wasn't normal, I knew that already, but it was extremely effective and had an impressively long reach. It was technically still a kenjutsu weapon- a sword-type- but it wasn't the norm. I wasn't the norm either.

It was a perfect fit.

My father was just about to start on his "think of the clan" rant when Junpei came bursting out of the storage room carrying an armful of weapons and supplies. He dropped them all over the floor and proceeded to dig through the pile until he located the naginata. He pushed the sheath in my direction before returning to his task of digging through the pile of objects.

When I examined the naginata, it looked about the same size as the one I had previously held. I turned a questioning eye to Junpei, who was too busy searching for Kami-knows-what in his obscenely large pile of weaponry.

"Ah, this looks the same," I said.

I flicked the blade for emphasis, testing it out. It wasn't heavy, but it was still too large for me to properly use.

"Oh!" Junpei turned to me with an apologetic expression on his face, cheeks slightly reddened.

He unsheathed the blade, revealing the glimmering, polished metal within the protective layering.

He seemed to enter 'weapons specialist mode' and began telling me all about the naginata. "I designed this weapon for my daughter, Miyuki, who is about your size, and it was too big for her as well. See, this sort of 'unhinges,' I suppose, and separates into three pieces. The blade is attached to the larger front piece, and then the rest of the pole length is broken apart into the two other pieces. You can fold it in on itself to make it shorter, and then open it all the way when you need the reach. You can also remove the blade and store it elsewhere, and then use the nagitana as a three-sectioned staff. This way, it works for both close range blocking and mid-range attacks."

Junpei proceeded to unhinge the segmented pole, separating it into three pieces. He folded the last segment down, and is seemed to almost mold with the rest of the weapon, disappearing from sight but adding an extra weight in the core.

"That should be about the size you need," He said.

I stared at him. Not only was this man a talented swordsman, he was a _genius! _I never would have thought to design a weapon like this, one that could change in size to suit the user and the environment with ease. It was nothing short of _brilliant._

"Amazing," I whispered_._

My father snorted, but I could see him paying Junpei careful attention out of the corner of my eye. It seemed that even he was awed by the product of Junpei's genius.

"Now, you're going to have to practice a lot to get familiar with the curve of the blade, and how you have to use it. Once you get the basics down, you can expand your nagitana to its full size. It's not a matter of your size, Chinatsu-kun, but a matter of proper technique." Junpei informed me, passing me the re-sheathed blade.

Tentatively, I accepted the nagitana from him. It was so much easier to carry now that it was smaller. It was heavier this way, but I could still wrap my entire hand around the body of the pole with little effort. I liked the way it felt- solid, _smooth._

I examined it carefully while my father paid, eying the little dips in the wood and committing them to memory. I was getting good vibes from this weapon, and I didn't want to misplace it.

"Bye now, Chinatsu-kun!" Junpei said.

I nodded in his direction. "Thank you, Junpei-san. For everything."

He grinned, giving me a sideways thumbs up as my father grasped my free hand and pulled me out the door.

"We have to buy your clothes now, alright? I'm sure you're tired, but we have to get this done. I wish your mother would have sent you to me earlier, because we don't have much daylight left." My father prattled on, muttering more to himself than me.

He was practically dragging me down the street, his long legs moving too quickly for my shorter ones to keep up. I stumbled after him, barely able to keep up. Eventually, I just gave up and went slack, allowing him to drag me down the street. It was easier this way, even if it did look stupid.

"Ah, here we are!" My father breathed, sounding relieved.

I looked up, spotting a simple sign that read "Hamasaki Tailoring," and groaned.

**. . .**

"Are sure those aren't senbon you're using?" I asked, wriggling away from the seamstress's prodding hands.

"Of course," She sniffed indignantly, stabbing me again with one of her needles, "I am simply making sure everything you are wearing fits you perfectly."

I scoffed, and she stabbed me with another needle. I had a sneaking suspicion that my clothes already fit and she was just poking me for the fun of it. She _obviously_ needed a hobby.

"There, now, that should do it," The seamstress said, tearing a needle out of my left shoulder blade. "Just give me a moment to tighten up a few seams."

She proceeded to pull the shirt I was wearing so tightly around my middle that my eyes moistened involuntarily. She pulled out her needle and quickly sewed a line of stitches in just below my underarms, making sure my new shirt properly fit around the waist. I held my breath, counting the seconds that ticked by under my breath. _1-2-3-4-5..._

Finally, the seamstress released my top, allowing me to breathe again. I gasped for air, taking the opportunity to inconspicuously (to some extent, anyway) stick my tongue out at her. She didn't seem to notice, as she was far too preoccupied with tearing her strategically placed needles out of my flesh to glance my way.

Eventually, she plucked the last needle from my flesh and deemed me "good to go" before turning to my father and raising a brow.

"What do you think, Makoto-san?"

My father entered the room when she called for him, munching on what appeared to be the last of an apple. When he caught sight of me, my father's eyes widened and seemed to grow- dare I say it- _misty. _

"She looks so grown up!" He gasped, sounding oddly sentimental for the first time in a long while.

I turned in a full circle, getting used to the feel of the new clothing before bothering to take a look at it. I had seen bits of the fabric when the seamstress had been fitting me for the clothing, but I hadn't seen the full outfit until now. I made my way towards the seamstress's mirror, studying myself with an almost cautious eye.

I hardly recognized myself when I looked in the mirror. The girl staring back at me was not someone I knew, or so I thought. But on closer examination, I realized she was indeed me. The girl in the mirror possessed the same violet, white-ringed eyes that I did, complete with almost-invisible eyebrows and a dull expression. I saw my teeth, my nose, my hands. This girl was me, but at the same time, she wasn't. The girl I saw looked mature and... almost pretty. She looked like a real ninja, dressed in a dark grey, gi-like top and an apron skirt emblazoned with the Hozuki Clan symbol over a pair of black leggings. She wore shin guards over her sandals and black, fingerless gloves.

The girl in the mirror looked like a genin- no, a chunin _at least_. She didn't look like me, the seven-year-old with a late start. She looked... like the person I wanted to be- honorable, strong, and wise.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I smiled.

_That is me._

* * *

><p>I can't say my mother was happy when she saw me, but she didn't kill me, which is better than I expected. In fact, she looked almost relieved- if I was reading her correctly, that is. I was never sure.<p>

I knew better than to trust her, anyway.

"Boring clothes," She said around a mouthful of what appeared to be ochazuke.

"Thank you," I replied sarcastically.

She smacked me on the back of the head for that, growling low in her throat. "Don't get smart with me! You were grounded, y'know."

_Shit! She remembered!_

"So? I never leave, anyway."

"Psh, pull that kind of shit with me and you won't go tomorrow, you here?!" My mother hissed, words slurring together in a manner that could only be a side effect of one thing- saké.

I stiffened. "NO!"

"That's what I thought. Now sit down and eat your fuckin' dinner, Chinatsu."

She pushed a bowl of okayu my way, and I begrudgingly sat down on the other side of the kotatsu to eat. I picked up my chopsticks and began picking out the pickles, setting them on the rim of the bowl to eat later. Earlier, I had been absolutely starving, but now I hardly felt like eating. The ball of nerves from before had settled in my stomach, making it hard to choke any of the okayu down without gagging. I settled for sifting through it instead, searching for hidden poison or perhaps my favorite garnish- umeboshi plums. My mother had told me I wasn't allowed to have them earlier, when she had ruled out the punishment I had no intention of following, but I couldn't help but wonder if a few plums were hiding amongst the rice broth.

My mother's eyes were a little unfocused and not quite right when she looked my way, as they always were when she'd had too much to drink. The whites of her eyes were reddened, like a ghoul's. With her red lips and white, white skin, she looked just like a demon from a low budget horror movie- the sort of things civilians liked to watch because they had nothing better to do.

Now was as good of a time as any to ask about the war. I hadn't seen anything noteworthy when we had gone into the village today. In fact, it had been just the opposite. I had seen very, _very _few people about, whereas I normally saw quite a few. The core of the village was by far the busiest area in the entirety of the hidden village, and I had seen next to no one. I knew I couldn't be under a genjutsu because my father would have undoubtedly broken it by now, if there was one at all.

"Mother," I said when she had taken a break from relentlessly attacking her ochazuke, "Is there really a war going on? Or was that just a 'test,' too?"

My mother slammed her fists onto the tabletop with strength great enough to make the okayu fly out of my bowl and then back down into it. _Amazing... _

"What, are yah stupid? Of cour's their's a war goin' on!" She shouted, swaying slightly in her seat.

Those very words, as crude as they might have been, filled me with dread. So it was true, then, this war. Call my mother whatever you like, but she was honest- especially when drunk. My perception of her had since been warped because of the little "test" incident, but she still had a good reputation in terms of her truth to lies ratio. I could still trust her to some extent, even if she was the sort of person who'd poison my food just to watch me choke on it. Almost everyone I knew was that way. It was normal.

"Where?" I asked, scratching at the table in an effort to keep calm.

"Out in no-man's-land. No matter what side wins, they don't want to trash the city. The winning side gets to keep Kiri, so we're keepin' it clean. 'Sides, this is our home. We don't want to destroy it."

No-man's-land was an island off the coast, maybe eight kilometers to the east of Kirigakure. It was uninhabited, as far as I knew, and seemed to function as a makeshift burial ground for Kirigakure's fallen heroes. We had been burying them there since the Founder's Era in an effort to hide their bodies from outside sources, and keep bloodline limits protected.

Funny, now, that we were killing those same people because of Yagura's orders. His orders to maim everyone we could find that possessed a bloodline limit were ridiculous and a poor move on his part. Not only had this sparked a war, but it had caused us to lose control of one of our greatest powers- the bloodlines themselves.

It was a common fact in the shinobi world that bloodlines were the greatest power. Any nin worth their salt would have preferred to face a group of at least four nin over a single, well-trained shinobi with a bloodline limit in battle. Those who possessed secret techniques and bloodlines had a natural advantage over the outside, an element of surprise. While those without bloodlines vastly outnumbered the ones that did, I was unsure of the outcome of this war.

I was also confused as to why everyone seemed so at ease with what was going on. No one had seemed to give the war a second thought! People were being slaughtered and the cowards that weren't in battle weren't doing a damn thing! I was only seven, so I was excused, but the rest of the people here needed to get their acts together. We were still a country, war or not. It was about time we acted like it.

And suddenly, it dawned on me.

I was heading to the Academy because they planned to throw us into battle as soon as we reached genin rank. It was so obvious, I was surprised I hadn't caught it before. The people around us were putting on a show to convince us that we were safe, and that we needed to train harder, and then they were going to throw us onto the battlefield in their place.

This was not a war of bloodlines.

This was Yagura eliminating the failures.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

*Hiramekarei is the sword currently wielded by Chojuro, previously wielded by Mangetsu. In my timeline, it's like this: Makoto - Mangetsu - Chojuro

I know we saw a picture of the previous Hiramekarei wielder in the manga, but we know nothing about him, so I'll just use Chinatsu's father. You can pretend he is the guy in the manga if you want XD

When Chinatsu says she wants to become the strongest in Kirigakure, she means it. It probably won't happen, seeing as she is going up against the Seven Swordsmen, Yagura, Mei Terumi, and the like. However, I might give her the title of "Mist's Strongest Genin" (ミスト最強の下忍) if she is stuck in this rank for a while (she will be, given my plans for her teammates). I'm not sure yet, but I definitely don't want to over-hype her.

Also: I am sincerely sorry for the slow pacing of these chapters and the amount of fluffy-ness. I love details, and write really slowly. That's why everything is taking _forever. _The next chapter is the Academy, I swear it. It felt wrong just rushing in, and I took a little too much time.

Mark: Given her age in porportion to Zabuza's, she will be (un)fortunately missing out on the blood bath genin exam ritual.

Do let me know what you think! * Also, nagitana are a real weapon, but the folding down part isn't. It would work in real life, but they aren't made that way. I just thought of it, honestly.

UPDATE: One of my awesome reviewers told me there is a weapon like this in Bleach. I don't watch it, so I didn't know. But the weapon is "Ikkaku's Hozukimaru" if you want to Google it! :)

-MSM-


	10. Chapter Nine:

**Chapter Nine: Shattering.  
><strong>

"I'm fine, Mom. Thanks for asking."

"Of course you're fine." She keeps walking. "You're the devil's bride and these are his creatures."

"I'm not the devil's bride."

"He carried you out of the fire and is letting you visit us from the dead. Who else would have those privileges except his bride?"

**. . .**

_This was not a war of bloodlines._

_This was Yagura eliminating the failures._

My stomach clenched as the realization of just what I was dealing with hit me head-on.

This war was **real**.

I had assumed it was, but part of me had always overlooked it, ignoring it and casting it aside as if it was nothing more than an insignificant entity. I had never once expected that I would be _involved_. War wasn't something I had expected to deal with at the age of seven, much less during my lifetime. War was one of my few fears, something I _loathed _with passion but knew there was no way to escape.

War had taken the lives of many of my clan members and allies, leaving Kirigakure consistently half-empty almost all the time. Yagura and many of our previous kage had taken advantage of our strength and power as a village, and had sent us into war many times more than was necessary. Kirigakure nin fed on the darkness in this world, and it away for our own gain. Our village was the bloodiest of all of the Five Great Powers, and our name, "The Bloody Mist," was hardly an exaggeration. I knew that if we went to war, we would win. I had no doubts. Our village had more combat experience than all of the others combined. We'd had six civil wars and five others against neighboring nations and former allies. We clashed with almost everyone we knew, regardless of who they were. It was our way, the Kirigakure way.

But I did not want to die.

I had seen very little in my seven years of life, and I was hardly willing to die so soon. I didn't know who I would be up against in this war, but I knew I would have to plan ahead. Lightning and fire were my greatest weaknesses, and they were by far the most popular elemental releases. I was already at a major disadvantage, even if I was immune to physical attacks. If I was outnumbered, I could be easily overtaken if I didn't play my cards right. In this game of victors, only the sly came out on top.

Yagura's web of lies had constricted around me, locking me in place. I wouldn't be able to escape this time.

_This time, it was truly war._

* * *

><p>My mother quietly told me to go to my room seconds after my realization, and I had followed her instructions without complaint. I hadn't wanted to push her any more than I already had, especially on the eve of my first day at the Academy.<p>

I had not expected to find Yagura waiting for me.

He sat, poised on top of my futon with one of my books in his hand. He didn't look up when I entered, and if I hadn't known better, I would have thought he was some sort of doll. His small, delicate face was as emotionless and blank as I remembered it being, and his bright pink eyes gave him a soft, innocent look that distracted from the darkness of his aura. But I knew Yagura too well to be fooled as easily as that.

I had him memorized. I had committed everything I knew about him to memory at a young age, in an effort to make sure I would never be fooled by an imposter of any kind. I had done well enough, I supposed- well enough to notice that a dark force had slipped into our village and had taken host within Yagura. Yagura's chakra had always been dark, suffocating me with angry evil whenever he drew too close. But this new darkness had been far worse. It had settled within Yagura's very soul, wrapping itself tightly around the very seams that bound his body together until the darkness had choked out what little light was within him.

The Yagura I knew had fallen two years ago.

The darkness had overtaken him, swallowing him whole and taking his place. I wasn't sure who or what the foreign chakra belonged to, but I knew it wasn't Isobu or Yagura's own. I had been just a baby when Isobu had been sealed, but I had never forgotten the feeling of his chakra, even now. Yagura's permeated throughout the village, constantly humming with life and raw strength. They were separate beings, Isobu and Yagura, but they were a team like no other. They were the ones that had tainted this village.

I trusted neither of them.

"Hozuki Chinatsu," Yagura murmured, slamming the book shut, "I have urgent business to discuss with you."

He dropped the book onto the floor and I almost scowled at him for daring to be so careless with possessions that were not his own, but stopped myself just before I did. I didn't want him to kill me for being nothing more than an insolent child.

I nodded, taking a seat on the floor to his right. Yagura may have thought I looked confident, but I was far from it. Inwardly, I was shaking at the idea of having to carry out a conversation of any kind with this Yagura, as if the one I knew hadn't been terrifying enough already. I didn't dare show any fear. That would have gotten me killed in a heartbeat. Instead, I kept it inside and brooded, waiting for the right time to strike. Then, I would have my revenge.

"Now, then... It has come to my attention that you will be starting the Academy tomorrow morning." Yagura said, locking eyes with me.

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

Inwardly, I couldn't help but wonder why he thought this was important enough to warrant a visit to my home. Surely, he could have sent me a letter if what he had to say was really _that _important- and I doubted it was.

It was just the Academy, after all. What could possibly go wrong?

"Very well... I suppose you _are _old enough to know," Yagura muttered, speaking more to himself than me.

"Know what?" I asked crudely, forgetting my place for a split second.

Yagura wasn't my friend and he never would be. He was the Mizukage, and I wasn't allowed to treat him as anything but a kage-levelled shinobi. Being in his presence was a rare thing, and was typically reserved for fellow high level shinobi. I wasn't even a genin, and I had no right to speak to Yagura at all.

"Your parents made a pact with me on the day of your birth, Hozuki Chinatsu. Your mother agreed to allow you to live, as weak as you were, in exchange for political immunity when she carried out her unauthorized killings. She told me that when you came of age and began attending the Ninja Academy, she would forgo her rights as your mother and transfer your guardianship to me. Your father was against this, of course, but managed to strike up a compromise with me in the hopes that his precious daughter would be saved."

_My mother did what?!_

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm interested in you at all, as any child would be, but I can't divulge my full reasoning just yet. I will tell you one thing, though- your power is a rare one. It has not been seen for at least three generations, and as far as I know, you are the first in over sixty years to possess it. Your natural variation of the Hydrification Technique is something that has only been seen once before- in the original Hozuki Chinatsu, the first jinchūriki of Saiken. Your power is both a blessing and a curse among the Hozuki, and only I have the resources available to keep you from dying a premature death like your predecessor. Your grandmother was killed because she did not understand her weaknesses, but only her strengths. She couldn't see what was truly important until it was too late, and she was forced to pay the price." Yagura said, his voice just barely above a whisper.

His tone was terrifyingly serious, and his eyes seemed to be looking right through me as he spoke.

"I will not allow you to make the same mistake."

"What power?" I asked softly, barely able to form a proper sentence.

Too much was happening all at once. I had only just found out my mother had made some sort of deal with the Mizukage in regards to my future, but now Yagura was telling me I had some sort of _power_?! I was beginning to feel sick...

_Mother, how much have you kept from me?_

"The technique unique to Hozuki Chinatsu- the original- was the capability to break her body down on a molecular level, allowing her to disappear completely from both sight and sensing. She could spread herself so thinly that she would literally _disappear. _She was untraceable in that form. However, Chinatsu didn't consider how weak she was in this state, nor the fact that she was terribly weakened against lighting and fire releases. This lack of insight ultimately led to her demise." Yagura breathed, voice low and raspy.

"And what does this have to do with me?!"

Never in my life had I been able to do what my grandmother could. I had tried to replicate her techniques many times before, and I had never been able to. My grandmother had been the host of the _Six Tails_, and I was just an ordinary child. I didn't have her enormous chakra reserves or fuinjutsu talent. I had _nothing _on her.

_...But why did Yagura think I did?_

"It has everything to do with you, Chinatsu. You are the only person who has even _a smidgen_ chance in hell at replicating her techniques. You look just like her, you sound just like her... You might as well be her, Chinatsu. You were both born weaklings with low chakra reserves, yet your grandmother grew to become one of the most fearsome shinobi of her time as the jinchūriki of Saiken. Like you, your grandmother was woefully unremarkable until she discovered that her weakness could become a strength. She later grew into one the most powerful kunoichis in all of Kirigakure until she was killed after the extraction of Saiken by Iwagakure. We managed to repossess Saiken in time to seal him into his next jinchūriki, an aunt of yours you've likely never heard of. Your aunt was unsuitable as a host and a poor choice as jinchūriki, living only five years with Saiken sealed within her before dying in her own home. Year after year, we reseal him into new jinchūriki, but none have ever managed to connect with him well enough to survive long enough to be of any help to our nation." Yagura said.

I stared at him, unable to form any words. Was he implying that I was a reincarnation of my grandmother? That was preposterous! Even if we _were _similar, it wasn't as if I was the Six Tail's jinchūriki or Kirigakure's most powerful kunoichi- _yet_, anyway. We might share the same name, but we were far from being equals.

"Why couldn't they survive?" I whispered.

"Saiken is poisonous and corrosive to the very core. He eats away at the very soul of his host for years and years until they are so drained that they simply die. For some reason, your grandmother was unaffected. It was not the Hydrification Techniques that gave her the advantage, for we have already tested that, but rather her unique genetics. The power Chinatsu possessed was a good match for Saiken, as she was self-healing and generally unaffected by poisons because her body could simply push them back out. We haven't found anyone like her after more than fifty years of searching... But it seems that you will do just fine." Yagura rasped, reaching out towards me.

I shrieked, jerking away from him and backing up against the wall, intent on getting as far away from him as I could. He couldn't be implying what I thought he was. . . Could he? There was absolutely no way I could become a jinchūriki! Those sorts of commitments were almost always planned at birth, or while the future jinchūriki was still a toddler. They almost never made adult jinchūriki, as far as I knew. It was a lifetime commitment, and it definitely wasn't one I had signed up for.

But my mother...

"It's not what you think," Yagura whispered.

I could feel his breath on my neck, fanning out across my back and shoulders like that of a fiery dragon's. I swallowed, suddenly feeling very light headed and weak, as if someone had drained away all of my chakra. I almost screamed when I realized that someone had. Yagura had stolen my chakra! If that didn't raise a mental red flag, I didn't know what would.

_What do you want from me?!_

"Listen to me, Hozuki Chinatsu," Yagura barked, "I'm not going to hurt you!"

_You're a liar... All of you are liars!_

"Stay away from me," I hissed, twisting away from Yagura's beckoning hands in the hopes that I could escape.

I never even had a chance.

Yagura caught the back of my top with the end of his hooked staff and jerked be backwards, slamming me into the wall behind us. Vaguely, I heard the sound shattering bone- _my bones_- as I came in contact with the wall, but the pain didn't register with me until some time later. I fell to the floor like a stringless marionette, gasping for breath as I was forced to endure the terrible pain as I waited for my body to reform.

"You will listen," Yagura hissed, replacing his staff in its holster.

My heart hammered in my chest, pounding against what was left of my splintered ribcage in a feeble attempt at keeping me alive despite the fact that the odds were not in my favor. In those few seconds, I realized something _horrible. _Yagura wasn't lying about my strange "power", and was instead telling me nothing but the truth. I had never noticed it until now, but he was right. I _wasn't_ like other Hozuki- I felt pain when I was attacked, my bones broke and splintered... Those things were not supposed to happen, yet they did anyway.

There was something horribly wrong with me.

"Hm... You break so easily, Chinatsu-chan. Are you sure you don't believe me?" Yagura said, his tone nothing short of insane.

He laughed hysterically, bending over at the knees as he shook with peels of jovial yet insane laughter. Yagura's soft pink eyes were watery by the time he was finished, and his cheeks were bright red. He looked like a child's toy, the sort that laughed and spoke on command, as if controlled from behind by some sort of invisible puppeteer.

I had never liked dolls.

"As I was saying," Yagura sneered, "You will come to my office tomorrow afternoon, once you have finished with your Academy classes. Tell no one where you are going, and do not tell them to wait for you. You will come to see me, and we will train until you have perfected what I teach you. You will then return home, shower, and head to the Academy. The process will repeat itself every day for the foreseeable future until you have learned everything I desire to teach you- which is _quite _a lot."

I could almost _see _my chances at a place in the Seven Swordsmen catching fire and burning down to nothing but ashes. Yagura rarely-if ever- used blades of any kind, preferring to stick to his staff and mirrors. He specialized in water jutsus that deflected enemy attacks and bijuu mode- which he had a complete, flawless mastery of. What could he possibly have to teach me, and why? My "power"- if you could call getting hurt a _power_- didn't relate to his abilities at all, and I honestly doubted he had anything to teach me. Yagura was obviously just trying to steal the techniques of our clan, or perhaps gather information on private clan matters. I doubted he had anything to offer me whatsoever, but I couldn't tell him that.

"Fine," I muttered, pushing myself up off the floor in disgust.

_You're a monster, Yagura._

Yagura smirked, a wicked grin spreading across his small face. "I know."

I screamed.

* * *

><p>My mother found me lying on the floor the next morning.<p>

She stood over me, arms crossed and scowling. "Get up."

I rolled over onto my stomach, wondering how and why I was unconscious. I had no memories of collapsing, but only of screaming while Yagura looked on in amusement.

_Great, just great. And now I have to go see that psycho every day for the "foreseeable future," too... _I sneered, pitying myself for managing to wind up in yet another undesirable situation.

"You going to Academy or what?" My mother asked, holding out a strange, black box.

I nodded frantically, pawing at the ground in search of my sandals that I didn't remember taking off. I had waited _ages _for this day, and there was absolutely nothing that could keep me away from it.

I didn't mention Yagura, and neither did my mother. She simply continued to hold out the box, looking bored and rather rumpled from her hangover. I wanted to scream at her for selling me out to the Mizukage, but I didn't dare- not when she was hungover, anyway. When she came to her senses, I planned to verbally assault her until she was begging for mercy. That was one thing I had on my mother- intelligence. My mother was far from stupid, but her vocabulary was rather limited when she wasn't flaunting her goods in front of handsome noblemen, whereas mine was large and consistent. I didn't doubt that my mother's frequent drinking was killing her braincells, because her genin written exam scores had been the highest in her year. I couldn't help but wonder where all the intelligence had gone... Had she just thrown it away, like she did with everything else when she grew tired of dealing with it?

My mother yawned, scratching her head with a free hand while she continued to hold the box with the other. Her hair was tangled and pulled back into a high topknot, giving her the look of some kind of bedraggled geisha. Her eyes were dark and almost empty looking, and surrounded by dark, bruise-like rings. I wouldn't have recognized her if it wasn't for the fact that she was wearing the same pinstriped tanktop she _always _wore in the mornings. I could see the Kirigakure ANBU tattoo decorating her left bicep, and couldn't help dream about the day when I'd have the same one. My mother was skilled, but she wasted her power with every second that she didn't take advantage of.

"Open the damn box so I can go back to sleep, dumbass," She rasped, sounding in dire need of a glass of water.

I quirked a brow but accepted the box. Tentatively, I peaked beneath the lid, expecting to see some sort of bomb that was about to explode beneath it. To my surprise, I found nothing out of the ordinary. Instead, all I saw beneath the lid of the box was a wad of mismatched tissue paper. I tossed the lid onto the floor and clawed at the tissue paper with the tips of my long fingernails until it shredded completely and fell away to reveal what looked like a lumpy sack and a set of black gauze.

"Thanks," I muttered sarcastically, "I bet I can _so _use this sack to kill my enemies."

My mother snorted wryly, snatching the box out of my hands and flipping it over, shaking the contents onto the floor. Tissue paper flew everywhere and I almost groaned aloud, knowing that I would be the one to clean it later.

"Look, genius, this is a _pouch _not a sack. You attach it to your front, y'know." My mother said, rolling her eyes.

She moved to touch my stomach, as if she was going to strap the pouch around my waist but wasn't quite sure she wanted to make contact with me at all. Instead, she handed it to me and took several steps back. I blinked in confusion at her bizarre behavior, but said nothing as she bent over to pick of the strips of gauze.

I wrapped the pouch's double straps around my waist, crisscrossing them to form an 'x' as I snapped the buckle together, securing the pouch's position on my abdomen. My mother came up behind me, tugging on the wires until she was satisfied with their positioning before handing me the gauze she had retrieved from the floor.

"Wrap it," She said, "Around your elbows."

"Why?" I asked, wondering what good that would do.

"Just trust me!"

I raised a brow at her, putting my hands on my hips in an attempt to look properly offended. "Trust you?! When have I _ever _been able to trust you?"

My mother opened her mouth to speak, as if she had _anything _to say that was worth my time on this subject matter, but I cut her off. I mimicked the gesture she had used on my uncle, a sharp knifehand- like maneuver that stopped just millimeters from her abdomen. I would have aimed higher, perhaps between the eyes, but I was too small to reach my mother's face and was forced to settle with a lesser equivalent.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest and leaning back against the paper-thin walls.

My mother's eyes narrowed, and she reached out to slap me, but seemed to change her mind at the last second and wound up simply glaring at me as if she thought she could send me straight to the pits of hell with a look alone.

I stood my ground, waiting for her to react physically as she often did, but she never moved. She just _stared._

I swallowed, feeling parched and rapidly weakening. Without wasting another second, I attempted to push past her and head towards the kitchen. But I didn't even get the chance to put my foot out the door.

My mother's bony fingers dug into the sensitive flesh on my forearms, digging in deeply enough to draw blood. I swatted at her, twisting and jerking away from her vice-like grip, but to no avail. No matter how much I struggled, her grip never once wavered. My mother was confident in her strength and I could feel that same self-assurance pulsing through me when she tightened her grip, further cementing us together.

"Trust me," She said, softer this time.

Begrudgingly, I gave in and allowed her to wrap the strange gauze around my elbows. She pulled the material taught, just as she had with the straps that held the now-empty pouch around my waist. It seemed that she didn't trust me, either, not even with my own body.

"You have weak elbows," My mother murmured by way of explanation.

I stared at her, brows wrinkling in confusion. How on Earth would wearing _gauze _around my elbows help them in any way? At the end of the day, gauze was simply glorified strips of non-sticky tape- and they definitely wouldn't be able to do anything for my elbows.

"How-?"

"Seals. Those aren't just any old bandages, y'know. They're infused with chakra from an old seal used by medic nin _way _back in the Warring States Period. They're kind of a relic, since they once touched the Queen, so don't go loosing them, alright?"

"Who's the Queen?" I asked dumbly, feeling horribly excluded, as if my parents had been withholding even more information from me than they already had.

_Yeah, like that's even remotely possible._

"The Queen? Oh, that's your granny! The first Hozuki Chinatsu." My mother explained as she tucked a strand a loose strand of her long, ivory hair back into her topknot with her free hand.

_Oh. _That made more than enough sense. My grandmother, the one I had been named after, was the husband of the founder of our clan. She was my mother's mother, and my supposed "past self," if Yagura's words were anything to go by. She was the original founding mother of everything we stood for as a clan, but she had hardly been a queen. Instead, she had been a thief and a liar, and had passed her ridiculous genetic mutation on to me. I used to idolize her, but now, I wasn't sure. There was too little known about her that I could access, seeing as she had died far too young, back in the Warring States Era as a thieving jinchūriki, as a _traitor. _Yagura hadn't told me these things, but I could read between the lines well enough to see that there was far more to her story than he let on.

I was the reincarnation of a traitorous, lying, conniving _Queen. _

"I have to go," I whispered, slipping beneath my mother's right elbow and out into the hallway.

She turned around, as if she reaching out to grab me but stopped herself just before she did. Her pale, bony arms dropped to her sides and her fists clenched into two tight balls of bony flesh and jagged, blood-red nails, but she did not move forward.

"_Wait,_" She whispered, sounding almost _desperate_ to speak to me before I left.

I did not wait.

She had never waited for me, never spoken to me fondly like a mother should... She was a terrible person, even I knew that. I would not give her the satisfaction of my attention any longer, not when she still treated me like garbage for no reason other than the fact that I _existed. _My mother loved scandal, bloodshed, and death. She fed on them like a ghoulish siren, sucking up her victim's souls before they could even scream. Those things were much harder to hide when you had a child about, especially from the father of said child.

My parents were not good at being parents. They thought they could hide things from me, but their efforts were futile. I saw through every one of their little tricks before they expected me to. Each time they threw out another weapon, I countered them with a few pawns of my own. In our family, it was a game of war-

And the loser always dies in the end.

I didn't bother to look back as I broke into a sprint, tearing down the hallway and up the stairs towards the front front door. I passed Suigetsu, who sat on the floor chewing on one of his _many _teething rings without a care in the world. He looked up when I passed, already raising his arms to ask to be picked up. I leapt over him, ignoring his whine of "Nee-chan!" and his soft whimpers as he watched me pass through the already open front door. I couldn't... I _couldn't_ look at him the way I once had after the Kaguya invasion. Not when he had killed those four men as easily and as cheerfully as he played with his toys, not when he had surpassed me_ without even trying_.

I hated him. I hated his sweet, innocent face and his stupidly bright eyes, and the way he liked to cling to my legs when I was trying to practice my kenjutsu. I hated the way he smiled and drooled all over my clothes and wiped dirt on my bed sheets, and the fact that he stole all the fruitcups and borrowed my books without asking even though he couldn't read...

And I hated loving him.

Attachment, emotions, _love- _these were all burdens that had no place in the life of a shinobi. I shouldn't love Suigetsu regardless of his faults, and I shouldn't have wanted to pick him up whenever he cried out without giving a single damn about the consequences. He was only m_y cousin_ for the love of Kami! He was _Mangetsu's _little brother, not mine.

_A shinobi doesn't fee_l, I thought, _a shinobi doesn't feel_.

But I was just a little girl.

I couldn't stop the tears that began to pool in the corners of my eyes, nor could I stop them when they spilled over the edge. II could only stumble to the ground as the tears began to drip down the curvature of my cheekbones and onto the ground, leaving only salty tracks on my flesh and a bitter taste in my mouth behind. I couldn't stop the hoarse screams that fell from my lips as I sobbed my eyes out, curling into a ball in the dirt.

These past few days had been too much for me to handle. _Hell_, they would have been too much for anyone to handle... But I was not just anyone. I was Hozuki Chinatsu, daughter of Akane the Bloodthirsty and Makoto the Brave, ANBU level shinobi of the honorable shinobi village Kirigakure. I couldn't afford to allow my emotions to slip out of my control, especially when the stakes were this high. This was a war we were dealing with, and that was far from a laughing matter.

Eventually, I fell silent. I had no energy, no emotion to spare. I had cried myself weak and tired, but I didn't have the time or the patience to be either of those things. I had to be strong. I pushed myself up off the ground and stumbled along the trail like a clumsily-used puppet, my posture stiff to the point of pain as I forced myself to abandon all my inhibitions and simply _move_. Today was my first day at the Academy, and I couldn't afford to cling to the shreds of desire that kept me chained to my own weaknesses any longer.

If I wanted to be strong, I had to abandon everything and everyone I loved. I had to be prepared to destroy, to conquer, to end it all in a single fiery moment of blade against bone. I could not show weakness or attachment- those things were evil, the equivalent of the Deadliest Sins in the world of the shinobi.

I had spent my entire life waiting for this day, and no one could stop me now.

Cracking my knuckles, I began to make my way up the stairs to the Kirigakure Ninja Academy. Behind me, a fireball exploded, splintering the very ground I had just been standing on seconds before. I did not flinch.

One by one, I climbed the stairs.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Akane's tattoo is of this symbol: 水 (Water, _Mizu_)

I know I said we'd get proper Academy time this chapter but I just couldn't fit it in, and this one is already so long... I'm_ so_ sorry guys~! I hope to have the next chapter out soon.

Also: Chinatsu's power is... not that great, you will soon see. It actually really sucks, especially for Chinatsu. It's not an "almighty power" or something like that, but more or less a shitty mutation that she inherited from her grandmother- who died because of the same. It's not a good power, but Yagura thinks he can use it.

I had such terrible writer's block while trying to write this chapter, so I apologize for the low quality. I'm quite stressed, so my muse appears to have taken refuge somewhere that I can't find her TT^TT Plus, my laptop died so all of my stuff is lost. Yay for phone posts, right? *unanimous no*

Also: I began writing a Kirigakure SI! Please check it out if you have time! It's called "Fish Out of Water" and can be found on my profile page.

-MSM-


	11. Chapter Ten:

**Chapter Ten: Everyone Hates Mondays  
><strong>

"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean."  
>― Maya Angelou<p>

**. . .**

_I had spent my entire life waiting for this day, and no one could stop me now._

_Cracking my knuckles, I began to make my way up the stairs to the Kirigakure Ninja Academy. Behind me, a fireball exploded, splintering the very ground I had just been standing on seconds before. I did not flinch._

_One by one, I climbed the stairs._

**. . .**

A tall woman with impossibly long auburn hair sat, cross-legged and contemplating, at the very top of the stairwell. She had a distinct, almost regal vibe about her, not unlike my mother when she bothered to exert the effort.

Instantly, I disliked her. She was too much like my mother- too proud and sharp-eyed to trust.

Carefully, I made my way up the stairwell, intent on heading inside without confrontation. I didn't like the look of this woman, as young as she might have been. I could only see one of her eyes, and that's _never _a good thing. There was no telling what she could have hidden beneath her bangs- a Byakugan, perhaps? I had heard my parents whispering about a Kirigakure shinobi that had obtained one of Konohagakure's "precious" eyes and I couldn't help but wonder if it was her. Why else would you hide an eye?

"Hozuki Chinatsu?"

I jumped at the sound of my name, swiveling around on the balls of my heels to face the woman. I nodded, but couldn't help but grit my teeth. This woman was obviously here to relay some sort of horrible message from Yagura. If she really was the one with the Byakugan, then I wanted _nothing _to do with her.

"You're a bit late, but I think you can make it if you run." The woman said, pointing a well manicured finger in the direction of the door.

I squinted, unable to see much of what was inside the building. "Make it where?"

I supposed she meant my classroom, but I couldn't be sure. If she knew my name and what I looked like, it could be assumed that someone had sent her here, and it was obvious that said person was Yagura. I couldn't trust her in the slightest, not even with something as simple as directions. I had no idea what she was capable of, and underestimating her could prove deadly.

"Class," The woman said, rising to her feet from her position on the ground.

I was suddenly _very _aware of how small I was. The woman was hardly tall, but she towered over my small figure in a manner that was almost terrifying. She would have scared me if I had been of weaker constitution-

But I was not.

I met her single visible eye with both of my violet ones, fixing her with a dead-on impersonation of one of my mother's most terrifying glares. I expected her to run away in terror, but she did not. Instead, the woman chuckled and leaned over to pat the top of my head as if I was some sort of dog.

"Now, now, everyone gets nervous. There's no need to be ashamed!"

I snorted, turning away from her and crossing my arms in discontempt. Adults were _always _this way, no matter where I went. They all seemed to view me as a weak, helpless child and couldn't seem to resist coddling me.

I skirted around her legs and through the open doors. The woman closed the door behind me and followed suit, herding me towards what I could only hope was the right classroom. The woman meandered down the narrow hallways with ease, and I struggled to keep up with her long legged stride. I was forced to jog in order to keep up with her, and my luck only got worse when she lead me to a rounded stairwell.

"Come on, we have to get upstairs before they take attendance!"

By then, I was panting for breath and barely able to stumble along behind her. I was sapped for energy and dehydrated, with close to no chakra thanks to Yagura's visit from yesterday. I had run off before I could eat or drink anything this morning, and it was clear that I was in for a long day. I groaned out loud, swaying in place instead of following the strange woman like I should have. I was simply _too tired _to function.

The woman grabbed my arm, pulling me up the stairs behind her. I dragged my feet, going limp in her hold like I had done only yesterday with my too-excited father. The woman simply pulled me along, like a strong ocean current.

We reached the classroom only moments later. The woman reared back, swinging herself around in one huge circle before she hurled me into the classroom with strength I didn't know she possessed. I crashed into a row of desks, knocking a small, blue-haired boy out of his seat and onto the ground with me. No one around us moved at all- everyone just _stared. _Even the teacher, an obviously bored blue-haired man of about twenty, didn't dare to move.

Finally, I stood up, dusting off the front of my skirt with my now rapidly perspiring palms. My nerves were beginning to get the better of me, it seemed.

"You're Hozuki Chinatsu, I take it?" The teacher ground out, speaking through gritted teeth.

I nodded absentmindedly, twiddling with the hem of my skirt while I attempted to think of a reasonable excuse for my late appearance. The teacher just rolled his eyes and waved me over to the nearest empty seat, which just so happened to be on the left side of the boy I had knocked over only seconds ago. I plopped down next to him, crossing my legs in an effort to look at least a little mature. The boy blushed, pushing his too-big glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Ano- I'm Chōjūrō," He whispered.

"NO TALKING!" The teacher shrieked, slamming his fist onto his desktop.

I rolled my eyes, flopping back into my seat and propping my legs up onto the table. I could already see where this was going- easy classes, easy _everything, _and soon enough, I'd graduate.

_Piece of cake, _I thought.

* * *

><p>Oh, how wrong I was.<p>

Only seconds after I had settled into my place had the teacher jumped up onto the table for no good reasonb and activated his previously hidden Byakugan. It turned out that he had been the one to defeat the Hyūga, not the woman that had practically thrown me into him earlier.

He was an odd one, this man. He was obviously very protective of his special eyes, but hardly paid us any attention when he wasn't shouting about Kami-knows-what. His name was Ao, which he had somehow managed to carve into the board using a piece of chalk when I wasn't looking, and he was obviously _very _strange. He preached about masculinity and maintaining the proper image for at least ten minutes, mostly speaking to my seatmate, the tiny Chōjūrō. Chōjūrō looked _terrified _by the end of his spiel, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him. He hardly stood a chance.

_Too bad, really._

The rest of my classmates looked just as scared. Only a careful few looked particularly confident in anything, and even then they seemed to weaken under Ao's glare. I did not. Instead, I glared at him without fear, daring him to challenge me. Byakugan or not, I could take him, I _knew_ I could.

Being in the presence of such failure was almost _invigorating. _I fed on their weakness, furthering my ego with every second that ticked by. My classmates may have looked tough, but I doubted any of them could even _read_, which placed me even higher above them in terms of capabilities.

_Or so I thought._

"Alright!" Ao shouted, still on top of the table for reasons unknown, waving a rather suspicious clear sack filled with small papers in his free hand, "We'll now be testing your chakra natures!"

I bolted upright, recrossing my legs and returning them to their position beneath the desk. _Finally, _we were doing something! I'd had enough of hearing him talk.

Ao slipped from behind his desk and headed in my direction, weaving between the desks to hand each student a tiny piece of manilla paper. Each time the paper touched the hands of its beholder, it would react almost violently to their chakra. Those with the Earth chakra nature suddenly found themselves without any paper to speak of, and were instead left with a pile of clumpy dirt, while the fire affinative's papers were suddenly aflame. Smoke and dirt rapidly filled the classroom, making it hard to see what was going on. From what I _could _see, I determined that while some of the papers didn't seem to change- lightning and wind- those with more extreme chakra natures were suddenly left with fragments of chakra-induced elements. I was yet to see any water, much to my genuine shock. My classmates were suddenly burning up their desks, but no one seemed to be able to produce any water. This was Kirigakure, in the Land of _Water_. The classroom should have been sopping wet!

But it wasn't.

Ao handed me my sheet, but I was far too distracted to think of anything other than how utterly _wrong _this all was. I was hardly even disturbed when water began pouring onto my lap, spilling all over the floor and onto Chōjūrō as well. We shared a glance, simultaneously raising our empty hands.

"Water," I said.

_Big surprise, _I thought sarcastically, _You're only made of it, after all..._

"Me too," Chōjūrō said with a nod.

"Doesn't look like anyone else is, though," I muttered, watching with disinterest as yet another one of my classmates managed to set themselves and the surrounding area on fire.

"All of you, to the fields!" Ao barked, covering his face with the edge of his haori, "And put out those damn fires!"

I could only assume that Ao expected Chōjūrō and I to extinguish the flames, much to my irritation. I had almost no chakra left, and now he was asking us to _put out fires?! _Wasn't he a Jounin? And what did he expect Chōjūrō to do, anyway? Put it out with tears?

"Ano... I think we need to..." Chōjūrō murmured, avoiding my eyes.

I rolled my eyes, glaring at a cracked ceiling tile that had fallen over into the corner during all the chaos. "Speak up! I can't understand you when you talk like that!"

Chōjūrō blushed heavily, resembling a small, blue-haired tomato. I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes yet again. This boy was _far _too unconfident to amount to anything. I had to fix him before he ruined himself and his future, and brought great shame to his clan.

"Let's put out the fire," I suggested, filling in where he left off.

Chōjūrō nodded again, looking sheepish. "Right."

Without waiting for him to follow, I carefully formed the handseals for "dragon," "tiger," and "hare," which activated the 'Water Release: Wild Water Wave' technique. I gathered as much of my chakra as I could into my chest and spat out a small trickle of water, dousing the flames until they went out. I looked up from my task and locked eyes with a thoroughly shocked Chōjūrō.

"You can already mold chakra?!" He cried, casting aside his previously shy nature.

I snorted, "_Of course! _Can't you?"

My mother had made sure I was well versed in casting various ninjutsu. I had already known my chakra nature, or at least assumed it, before today had even begun. My mother had been drilling me since I could walk. I knew almost all the hand signs and what they did, but I couldn't do much in terms of jutsus yet.

"Um... Isn't there supposed to be more water?" Chōjūrō asked quietly, looking more than a little ashamed.

I scowled, "Yeah. But I can't do that yet."

My chakra reserves weren't developed enough for that yet. Mangetsu had been able to use this technique perfectly when he was my age, able to send a waterfall of frigid water into the faces of each enemy he faced. I spat out more of a trickle, like a broken sink pipe rather than a "waterfall". It seemed that no matter what I did, I would _always _be outclassed by Mangetsu. He had done everything faster than I had, and his results were always better than my own. Mangetsu was... perfect.

I _hated _him.

I would kill him one day- and my mother, too. As soon as I was strong enough, I'd eradicate them both and take their places as a Swordsman and clan heiress. It was only a matter of time, I decided, before I got my just desserts.

And then it would finally be all about me.

I had always been the shadow child, the one everyone knew but hardly cared about, clinging to shreds of my sanity while everyone else around me simply moved on with their lives. I had never been the center of attention, nor had I been the outcast. I had been the rigid one, cursed with a spine of figurative steel and the mind of someone far too mature for my young body. I had wished to be dumb once, a long time ago.

The dumb ones don't understand pain. They face it fearlessly, and they never shy away. I had known pain, I had _always _known pain. Other girls my age liked to play and laugh, but I did not. I had grown bitter and angry while they had grown chipper and bright. I wasn't like other girls, but I so very badly wanted to be. I wanted to be one of those pretty yet dumb girls that made friends easily and always seemed to shine with true happiness. I was dark and empty, always alone despite always wanting _more. _I wanted to be like them, blending in without effort and achieving their dreams.

But I was not and I never would be.

I was Hozuki Chinatsu, third in line for Hozuki Clan head. I was a kunoichi and an heiress. I was supposed to project good breeding and exquisite manners, not happiness and laughter. Feelings had never been something my relatives had encouraged. They were useless, unnecessary attachments that bound us all to worthless entities. Love would distract me. Friends would distract me. My goals were far more important than my happiness, and my goals were to be achieved at all costs.

I couldn't let myself feel anything but rage. I wasn't allowed to. Yagura had made that rule long ago, when I had still seen the world as a beautiful thing.

Now, I saw the world for what it truly was- nothing but shards of black, angry _hell._

"Funnel your rage," Yagura had said, "And turn it into a weapon. But feel nothing else, for the other emotions are useless."

I would follow his advice, no matter what happened... Even if it killed me.

_Yagura is absolute._

* * *

><p>The tip of one of Chōjūrō's tiny fingers brushed against my shoulder.<p>

"Are you okay, Chinatsu-san? You zoned out!" He asked, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose in an effort to calm himself down.

I nodded dazedly, staring at a small smudge of soot on top of one of the nearby desks. My head was positively _burning._

"Ao-san is probably waiting for us," Chōjūrō said, "Perhaps we should head outside with the others."

I nodded again, following after him like a dog. My heart was pounding and my skull throbbed with every step I took. It felt as if someone was stabbing me repeatedly in every one of my nerves, but when I looked for a senbon, I found nothing. Not a trace. Just skin, dry and cracked with dehydration.

Chōjūrō held the door open for me like a gentleman, but I was too out of it to thank him properly. Instead, I simply passed him by. Chōjūrō was a stepping stone, a tool I could user to advance further in life. I did not need to thank him- in fact, he should be thanking me for merely gracing him with my presence. He was weak, and I was strong.

_The weak are meat the strong eat._

"It's not my business... But are you okay, Chinatsu-san?"

_Am I? Have I ever been "okay"?_

There were so many things I wanted to say to him then, but I couldn't form the words. I could tell him how I felt or what I thought...

"You're right," I said, "It's not your business."

Chōjūrō fell silent. I almost felt bad for him, but I didn't dare. He wasn't like me, and I couldn't treat him as an equal. Say what you will about me, but I was better than that. Lying was wrong outside of mission protocol, and I certainly couldn't lie to Chōjūrō now. It was wrong, just_ wrong_.

He was beneath me.

Together, we trekked down the steep craggy slope that led to the shoreline. The rest of our class was lined up on the sand, as dull-eyed and complacent as sheep heading to a slaughter. Ao stood atop the breaking waves, walking seamlessly above and around the waves as if he had been doing so his entire life.

"-and you gather the chakra into the bottoms of your feet, like so," Ao shouted, fragments of his sentences disappearing amongst the roaring waves.

Chōjūrō and I made our way to the front of the line. I kicked a girl out of the way to make room for Chōjūrō who watched in bewilderment as I stomped over to the water's edge. Without waiting for instructions, I leapt onto the oncoming wave and stalked over to my supposed "sensei."

"This is useless to me!" I cried, stomping my feet for emphasis.

Ao rolled his single visible eye, having replaced his eye-patch while Chōjūrō and I had been inside, dousing the fire.

"I expected this," He muttered, looking to the sky.

"EXPECTING WHAT?" I screamed, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

I could, but I wanted to give him a chance to correct himself before he dared to speak to me in such a manner again. Who did he think he was, the Mizukage?

"You might know how to do this," Ao said with a scowl, "But they don't! How about you think about them instead of yourself for once?"

He pointed to my classmates, who were all blinking at us in confusion- even Chōjūrō.

"They can all drown if they're stupid enough to fail something as easy as this," I spat, turning away from Ao with a sneer.

Admittedly, I was laying it on a little too thick, but if my classmates were honestly dumb enough to fail the Water Walking Excercise, then I had lost all hope in humanity. It was so simple! Even I had gotten it right after two tries. _Suigetsu _could do it, and he still wore diapers!

"And on that note, why don't we all give it a try?" Ao cried, sounding forcibly enthusiastic and almost sickeningly happy.

My classmates tentatively made their way to the water. A few of them managed to stay upright, but a vast majority crashed beneath the waves and came up gasping and flailing. A boy a good deal taller than me mastered it right away, and he used his new-found skill to come over and punch me in the face.

"Stop being so damn cocky, brat!" He cried.

_We're the same age!_

I wiped my now-swollen lower lip with the edge of my shirtsleeve, glaring at him as I did. "It's not without reason!"

"Oh, what, so you can stand on water? Woohoo, good for you, so can I!" He shouted, his dark brown eyes growing sharp with irritation.

"You must not know who I am, weakling, if you think you can hold a candle to me," I spat, igniting a challenge_._

I was bored. I had been all day, from the moment Ao had begun speaking up until right about now. The fire in the classroom had been the only event even worth reflecting on, and even that was hardly very interesting. I had expected so much more from my first day, and I had definitely been let down.

"I don't care who you are! You'll never defeat me!" The boy screamed, his face reddening with anger.

I rolled my eyes, but took my fighting stance. The boy followed suit. I readied what little chakra I had left, gathering it in my palms and preparing to start anew on my handseals. I was about to activate my clan's strangulation technique, but something knocked me off my feet and sent me crashing through the waves like a stringless marionette.

The water shocked me, but not as much as the surge of anger did. My chakra seemed to darken, teeming with ferocity, only seconds after I had been submerged. I raised my hands, flexing my normally pale fingers. Even with what little light I had, the appearance of malicious ebony chakra wasn't hard to see. It spread throughout my veins, giving off a ghastly green glow that seemed to ooze from beneath my skin like slime. My skin darkened, blackening as if I had been burned.

I saw _red_.

A hiss slipped through my parted lips, sending a tiny stream of bubbles towards the surface. I inhaled, sucking in as much of the chilly sea water as I could, and then released. I counted down under my breath- _five, four... three-two, one_- and waited for the horrible dark chakra to recede.

Nothing.

I willed myself to keep calm, but I wasn't sure I would be able to. My skin was starting to prickle with heat, as if invisible flames were licking my skin. I rolled one of my wrists over, pulling at the skin. It broke away, shredding into tiny, bloodless fragments. They disappeared, leaving a horrible, empty place that went down to the bone.

_... Was that the power Yagura spoke of?!_

Frantically, I swam for the surface. I broke the surface of the water, accidentally swallowing a mouthful of wayward seawater as a wave broke overhead. I did my best to calm myself down, treading water while I tried to gather my thoughts _and _my chakra.

"NO FIGHTING!" Ao barked as soon as he saw me, as if I had been the one to cause the problem in the first place.

_That was too close..._

"Isn't this _Ninja _Academy?" I shouted after spitting out a mouthful of seawater.

Ao seized my arm, pulling me from the water with a shake of his head. "Fighting isn't all there is to being a shinobi, you know."

The boy from before scowled when he heard Ao's words, crossing his arms across his chest and looking away.

"Utakata! Get over here and _apologize _to her! And you, Hozuki, do the same!" Ao barked.

He shoved me foreward, and I crashed into Utakata, sending us both back into the water. Ao pulled us back up less than a milisecond later, looking thoroughly pissed off.

"Both of you- shore, _now._" He hissed through gritted teeth.

I kicked him in the shins before breaking into a sprint. Utakata- or whatever his name was- followed closely behind me. We didn't speak when we reached the shore. I only kicked at the sand, intent on sending it flying into Ao's ridiculous hairstyle or perhaps into the clothes of my classmates. They were pissing me off, all of them. First, they started a fire, and then they gave me Utakata? _Unbelievable. _

"I'm the Mizukage's trainee," I moaned, falling to my knees in the sand, "And I shouldn't have to deal with this!"

I deserved the utmost respect of those around me. I had been chosen specifically by Yagura to become his disciple and assistant, and I was above them all in terms of status. They had no right to treat me the way they had!

_Punish them_, A small, sharp voice hissed from somewhere within the recesses of my mind.

I nodded in agreement. For once, my subconscious was right. Careful to keep from making a sound, I reached into my now sopping wet pouch and pulled out a kunai. I locked eyes with Utakata, daring him to try anything to stop me. When he didn't, I lunged. My kunai clashed with one of his own, sending a spray of sparks onto the sand.

"I'll kill you!" I screamed, pulling out a second kunai and hurling it at him with all of my strength.

_How dare you humiliate me._

The kunai _almost_ embedded itself in Utakata's forehead. It would have hit home, if not for the fact that Ao caught it before I could do any real damage.

"I said," Ao hissed, "_No fighting._"

His voice was different from before- more dangerous, almost sharp. I swallowed, feeling a bead of ice-cold sweat trickle down my forehead as I struggled to remain composed.

"What're you gonna do to us?!" Utakata whimpered, suddenly looking more like a terrified seven year old than he had just moments before.

"Private lessons."

Utakata and I shared a pained glance. I could hardly imagine what terrors awaited us in these so called "private lessons". There was no telling what Ao could do, especially with those Byakugan of his.

He dragged us both back into the building and into the classroom, where he dropped us with little care onto the floor in front of his desk. I got up first, clawing at his back like a feral cat.

"You can't do this to me!" I shrieked, "I'm Hozuki Chinatsu!"

Ao turned to face me, and his eye patch slid away. His Byakugan activated, swirling bright hellish white against the clouded, smoky air. I swallowed what felt like my tongue, choking on nothing but dry air.

"Sit the fuck down, brat." Ao hissed.

I sat.

Utakata followed suit. I could see tiny beads of sweat dripping down his neck out of the corner of my eye, and I almost smirked. He wasn't so tough now, was he?

Ao leant back against the solid wood of his desk, crossing his arms across his chest with discontempt.

"I know you two are a bit advanced, but can you _please _try to hold it together? I'm only watching those lower-level brats until their proper instructor comes back from a mission. Then the three of us and anyone else that shows promise will go into our own classroom. No more baby stuff, alright? But you'll have to wait it out. Those are five year olds out there. I can't just leave 'em!" Ao explained, looking less angry and more concerned than I had expected.

"And it's hard enough watching thirty five babies without having to pull you two off each other every six seconds. Grow up, will you?"

I suddenly felt almost _bad. _Ao obviously had enough on his plate without the two of us causing trouble... But I just couldn't help myself!

"Sorry," Utakata murmured, glaring at the floor.

_It was your fault anyway, dumbass._

Ao turned to me, mismatched eyes expectant, almost coaxing me to speak. I looked away, staring at the tips of my boots. There was no way I could apologize, not to him!

"I'm waiting," Ao murmured.  
>I shook my head, hiding my eyes in my bangs.<p>

Ao sighed, crouching down beside me. "C'mon, kid. Just one little word and this whole thing can be over with. How's that sound?"

"Terrible," I muttered, fiddling with the zipper that sealed the front of my pouch shut.

_I'm not going to apologize for something that wasn't my fault!_

"It was your fault just as much as it was his. Own up to it."

"**No**."

"'Guess I'll have to punish you, then. Ten laps around the village. No breaks."

I spat bitterly on the ground.

* * *

><p>Ao had me outside running drills soon enough. He dragged Utakata out soon enough, and the two of us spent the rest of the morning running suicides around the island. I saw Mangetsu multiple times, and Yagura once. He had scowled at me disapprovingly, eying Utakata with a critical eye. Yagura's eyes had traveled from my split lip to the blood stains on Utakata's teeshirt, and then back to my face.<p>

"We'll discuss this later," He had muttered, shaking his head in utter disappointment.

Utakata had glanced between us, looking rather shocked. "Wait, you were _serious?! _You're the Mizukage's trainee?"

I ignored his question and broke into a sprint, intent on returning to the Academy before either of my parents could find out what happened. I didn't trust Utakata, or anyone, really, with the answer to that question. Yagura had made me swear secrecy, and I was already on thin ice as it was. It wouldn't be a good idea to add more fuel to the fire.

_You'll get burned._

Utakata trailed behind me, far too slow and steady for my tastes. I was faster than he was, but I didn't have enough stamina to keep going for very long. Every few minutes, I would slip behind him and Utakata would speed up, leaving me in the dust.

I growled, pushing myself harder in order to pass him again. We kept it up for a good five kilometers, but then the Academy came into view and we were finally released from our punishment. Utakata and I parted ways, only to wind up together _yet again _when Ao began leading us to a different classroom and what I hoped was a different class. I was tired of the basics, and I wanted a challenge.

Perhaps that was what I had been after when I challenged Utakata... A real fight. I had wanted someone who would fight me without reservation, someone that would hit me with their absolute best each time they tried.

_Utakata..._

"You four should be more challenged in _my _class," Ao bragged as he escorted us to our new classroom.

"Four?" Utakata and I said at the same time.

A tentative, shaky hand brushed against the small of my back, and I jumped. "Chōjūrō!?"

I couldn't imagine what he'd done to qualify as my "equal." Mastering the Water Walking Exercise was hardly anything to brag about, especially when he was just as old as I was and should have already known what to do.

_So why is he here?!_

"Hi," Chōjūrō whispered.

A too-tall bluenette stood beside him, blocking out the light behind her. She looked like a Hoshigaki, with blue-grey skin and gill-like markings that stretched across her cheekbones. Her eyelids were dark, as if they had been blackened with tar, and her irises were disturbingly small, shifting between Utaka's form and my own as if she was seeing right through us.

"Hoshigaki Kasumi," She said by way of greeting, holding out a thin, long-fingered hand.

I brushed her off, turning away. "Hands off, peasant."

You could have heard a pin drop in the room if you so desired. My classmates shared an unreadable glance, their eyes glittering brightly beneath the bright hall lights. I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking.

Moments later, Ao burst out laughing.

"You're a riot, you know?" He said with a chuckle, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes with the sleeve of his haori.

I glared at him. "That was not my intention."

He patted my shoulders in a manner similar to that of my father's usual behavior. "Lighten up, Hozuki."

"Lighten what up? I'm not carrying anything!"

Ao blinked slowly, looking both confused and surprised. "It's an... expression."

"A _what_?"

"Nevermind," Ao muttered, waving his hand dismissively, "We're already here."

Ao rapped a nearby white-washed wooden door with the edges of his knuckles. The sounds of chatter within the room beyond the door instantly subsided. I heard a set of footsteps approaching, and then the sound of a lock unsnapping, allowing us inside. On the other side of the threshold stood a stone faced bluenette with sickly grey skin and a giggly, almost effeminate brunette. The bluenette scowled as soon as he saw us, but moved aside to allow us inside.

Ao promptly passed us by, heading to the front of the room without a second glance. A single table at the very back of the classroom was open, with four empty seats and two filled ones. I cursed under my breath when I realized that they bluenette and brunette from before took up the two end-row seats. With my luck, I'd end up next to the one that couldn't shut up.

I did.

Utakata slid into the first empty seat, taking up the space next to the chilly bluenette. The Hoshigaki girl followed him, slipping into the next available seat. Chōjūrō- _the bastard_- took the empty seat right after her, leaving me with the remaining spot next to the hyperactive brunette. He giggled, patting the seat as if beckoning me to his side. I bumped his arm out of the way with my hip, and begrudgingly slumped into the seat.

Right away, Ao launched into his usual lecture mode, animatedly jabbering about something I hardly cared to listen to. He didn't bother to introduce us to the class, which I was thankful for, but rather continued on as if we weren't even there.

To quell my boredom, I pulled a kunai from its holster and proceeded to carve the kana for my name into the flaking wood. Chōjūrō could _clearly _see what I was doing, but he never said a word. Instead, he fidgeted anxiously under Ao's non-existent scrutiny. Flakes of cheap, aged wood fell to the floor around my feet, piling up in a manner that was neither neat nor impossible to see.

_For someone with such powerful eyes, Ao sure is blind, _I grumbled.

I was just about to consider dumping the wood shavings down the collar of the perky peach-haired girl sitting in front of me when Ao uttered something that caught my interest.

"...And while the Summoning Technique is far from necessary for the every day shinobi, it's certainly helpful in combat. A shinobi should always take advantage of every single opportunity they have to gain the upper hand on an enemy. In some cases, a summoned creature can be the difference between life and death. That is why each and every one of you will end this year with a summoning contract. You might not always use the summoning- in fact, you might never use it- but it's always better to be safe than sorry." Ao said with a grin.

I sat up straight. _Finally!_

"What's your summon then?" The perky peach-haired girl that had previously been sitting silently in front of me cried.

She sounded far too enthusiastic, but I honestly couldn't blame her. I was ecstatic as well, though I was better at hiding it. Obviously, these students were advanced in capabilities but not in emotional control. Why else would they be studying something as advanced as summoning if they were on par with the class I had previously been in. Summoning was a tricky thing, even for the advanced shinobi. It required good chakra control and a strong resolve... Did anyone here- besides me, that is- have either of those things? Would even one person be able to master the summoning arts?

Ao was too hopeful, thinking each one of us were capable of the summoning technique. I doubted anyone besides myself and perhaps the Hoshigaki girl, who was obviously blessed with a genetic affinity with sharks, could pull any of this off. I didn't know about anyone else, but if looks told me anything, I had little to hope for.

_I will rule you all._

"I summon the shark, but I rarely use it," Ao said, low voice jarring me from my musings.

"How come?" Someone else asked.

"I'm an Intelligence Specialist, kids. I rarely go out into battle, but when I do, the shark is a useful asset. Any summon is, really. Now, today we will be discovering your affinative species- but I don't want any of you rushing into a contract just yet. Every summon, no matter how big or small, requires a lot of effort and shouldn't be underestimated. Summoning contracts last beyond the grave as long as the signed parchment is intact, which means that a summoning contract is no joke. Each one of you will find out your destined animal today, but I don't want anyone to sign a contract. Is that clear?"

Ao's voice was sharp and chilling, and his single, visible eye was stone-cold. Without thinking, everyone nodded enthusiastically.

"Crystal," I murmured, fiddling with my kunai.

Ao padded over to the blackboard and pulled down a low hanging chart. On said chart was a diagram of five individual seals and their specific positioning. I memorized it quickly, repeating the seal order in my head like a mantra. _Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram..._

"Now, I want you to bite your dominant hand- the one you throw kunai with- and draw blood_. _Now, copy the hand seals you see behind me." Ao stated, biting into the flesh on his right hand.

A tiny drop of blood fell from his wound, coating the pad of his thumb with crimson liquid.

I copied him, sinking my teeth into the flesh of my left thumb. I tore off as much flesh as I could. Soon enough, rivulets of blood were dripping down my hand, joining the wood shavings on the floor.

"Boar!" Ao shouted.

My classmates and I complied, each of us forming the 'boar' seal. Unlike the others, who were clumsy in their movements, I knew what I was doing. Without thinking, I finished off the remaining round of seals. I didn't wait for the others to catch up. Instead, I smeared the blood from my wound onto my other hand before I finished the jutsu.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" I cried.

Smoke exploded from my wound, weaving around me into an elaborately written seal. I could see my classmates watching in horror as the smoke wrapped tighter and tighter around my form until all I could see was solid smoke.

I heard Ao scream, "DON'T DO THAT!" but I payed him little mind.

Everything went black.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Note:<br>**

**Have an idea for what her summon should be? Leave a review!  
><strong>

Chinatsu, you poor reckless fool! Don't you know there's a reason he said "wait"?! XD

On another note: Yes, the woman at the beginning is Mei. Remember, the Jonin and the Chunin get stuck with teaching the Academy brats when there aren't enough volunteers to cover all the classrooms. She is described a bit differently from canon because she'd be a teenager here, and I doubt she'd dress the same way as she does now here.

Utakata isn't really OOC (I hope). He hasn't had Saiken sealed within him yet, so I feel like he'd act the way he did before his Master betrayed him. Plus, he's still a kid, after all. He's like... eight here, or something.

Not my best chapter... I struggled to write this one. It just wouldn't come to me! I tried to show a bit of Yagura's insanity slipping into Chinatsu's subconscious, but I don't know how well I did that. :(

-MSM-


	12. Chapter Eleven:

**Chapter Eleven: Chew Me Up and Spit Me Out**

"Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look."  
>― Jodi Picoult<p>

**. . .**

The world came into focus in an explosion of raw lightning, zipping around my form and tearing it to shreds. Oddly enough, I felt no pain. I only _saw, _as if I was watching someone else rather than myself.

It was undeniable, though, that this body belonged to me. This form was just the same as my own, long-legged and petite, covered in tiny bruises and so pale that I could see my own chakra network swirling beneath my skin as it attempted to recover the chakra I had lost. I looked frail- _everyone _thought so- but I was stronger than anyone would have ever expected.

_They will regret underestimating me._

My hands disappeared first, slipping into the dark, swirling vortex of nothingness without a trace. My forearms came next, and then my shoulders. My legs disappeared one by one, and eventually my abdomen, leaving me bodiless and empty in the darkness. Lightning flashed behind me, crackling with electric green sparks.

And then I was in the water.

I crashed through the waves, struggling against an incredibly strong current in an effort to keep myself from getting too far off course. I had no idea where I was, or which way was up or down. All I saw was _blue_.

A sharp pain erupted from my core, and I looked down and realized that the sea was flooding with a distinctive coppery crimson- _blood. _A quick feel to my abdomen confirmed that it was my own. I had somehow managed to land on top of a long, iron spike, the latter of which had pierced the flesh around my diaphragm and had managed to lodge itself in my abdomen. It stung, but I was strangely numb to the pain, as if my mind and my body were still two separate entities, yet I could still manipulate both.

With my free hand, I grasped what I could reach of the rod and pushed off as hard as I could. My forearms shook with strain, but little happened. The rod didn't budge. Instead, it seamed to almost liquify, congealing like slime within my intestines. It seemed to harden seconds later, like cement. Frantically, I pushed harder. Nothing.

_Is this... glue? _I wondered. The strange, soft-yet-rigid rods were slick with sticky slime, which was likely what was trapping me in place. I scratched at it with the tip of my fingers, digging into the strange substance with all of my strength. I wound up with broken fingernails and no progress. No matter how hard I clawed, kicked or pulled at the substance, nothing changed. The flesh on my palms and fingertips was beginning to be soaked with blood. The roughened texture of the rod was shredding through my flesh like a knife through butter, further adding to the blood in the water. Silently, I hoped their were no sharks in the surrounding area. Even I could smell it, the heavy essence of _wounded weakling. _If there were any sharks to be found, they'd appear soon enough.

I scratched at the ooze again, more out of frustration than anything else.

_What is this?! _I had never seen rods made of liquid material, or rods that were able to move themselves in such a way before... Did that mean that it was _alive_?!

As if on cue, the rod shifted. The murky water cleared, allowing faint rays of light to illuminate the previously dark area. Thousands of other rods suddenly appeared, and I realized that what I was currently on top of was not some sort of ship wreckage or other man-made material, but a _giant sea urchin. _A stream of bubbles flew from my mouth as I gasped in shock, accidentally inhaling a little too much water.

I covered my mouth with one hand, gnawing on the flesh on my palms while I tried to think of a way out of this. I was at a disadvantage in this position, and the liquification wouldn't do much to a creature that could do the same. Seeing as this was a sea urchin, I didn't doubt that this creature and its spikes were laced with deadly poison. I had stepped on many of these creatures before when I was out on the shoreline or swimming near the reefs. They were poisonous and vile little creatures, and some of them were venomous enough to kill. I'd lost a cousin, a frail girl with minuscule chakra reserves, to one before. There was no telling what would happen if I didn't move _now._

Poison was something I had never been able to handle.

I braced my legs on the closest spike, and turned as far over as I could, rolling and writhing until I finally managed to free myself from the sticky, hooked spike that had previously held me in place. Silently, I thanked whatever luck I had for _finally _releasing me, and swam away from the enormous creature as quickly as I could. As I fled, the creature shifted in place, and began to roll after me.

_What?! The sea urchins I know have never done something like this!_

And then I understood.

He was a gate keeper, this creature. Behind him was a strange reef made of what looked like broken, jagged bones of various sizes. The reef curved inwards near the center, leaving open a gaping hole that lead to something beyond my range of vision. The sea urchin was obviously some sort of guard, and my destined summon was behind him.

This was a test.

Without thinking, I liquified my form, loosing all feelings of pain and muscle soreness as I became one with the water. I knew the urchin could act similarly, but he seemed to excrete more of a glue than water. I would have to avoid him at all costs if I ever wanted to get anywhere near my summon.

_Now... How to get around it without getting stabbed...?_

Sea urchins didn't have eyes- or at least, not that I knew of anyway. I had never bothered to learn much about them, and I was once again left without any information when I needed it most. I could only assume, but even that left me on shaky ground.

I reverted back to my normal form, hissing in pain as the nerve endings beneath my skin began to reconnect, knitting together with every individual fiber of my being until I was once again _whole._. The wound in my abdomen was suddenly a thousand times more painful than it had been before, as if I was just now consciously within my own form. The bizarre, hollow feeling from before still lingered, but I didn't think much of it at the time.

The urchin sped towards me at an impossible speed, and I just barely managed to duck out of the way. I slipped behind a coral rock formation, cursing under my breath as I realized that my wound was still bleeding- and in fact, it was bleeding _more. _The wound hadn't closed up like it should have, which was worrying. Had the poison already begun to take affect?!

I didn't have time to think. The urchin discovered my hiding place and slammed into me while my guard was down. The blow was so great that I went flying forewords and crashed into the reef. The bones dug into my flesh, tearing through the fabric of my clothing and shredding my skin. My vision blurred with vertigo, darkening and blurring around the edges until all I could see were tiny white dots- like stars, I suppose.

There was _so _much blood.

Behind me, a giant clam opened its jaw, revealing its smooth, alabaster innards. The sea urchin charged, sending me flying one last time. I slammed into the shell of the clam, screaming in pain as the blow jarred my very core. The pain spread from the tip of my head to each of my toes and everywhere in between, exploding within me like a fire cracker, only without the pleasantries.

The clam closed its jaws, enveloping me in an unbreakable barrier that could only lead to hell.

_And then there was nothing._

* * *

><p>"I told you we should have just sent her directly to us-" An unfamiliar voice argued, sounding too high pitched to pass for either of my parents.<p>

The voice was ambiguous, and of an unreadable gender. It seemed to be coming from my left, but I couldn't be sure. My skull felt heavy with fluid, and my hearing was oddly muffled, as if someone had stuffed cotton balls into my ears while I was unconscious. Forcing my eyes open, I searched for the speaker.

The voice silenced as soon as I so much as shifted in place. Obviously, this was a conversation I was not meant to overhear.

I scowled, gnawing on my lower lip as I tried to figure out what I should do next. The room was dark and dimly lit. Only a small oil lamp in the corner provided any traces of human life, for the rest of the room was bare. I had been laid on the floor and hidden beneath a thin grey sheet. The sheet was dotted with oddly suspicious dark brown stains, and offered little protection from the moist chill that seemed to have fallen over the room when I awoke. When I exhaled, I could see smoke.

With a shiver, I pushed myself up off the ground, wrapping the sheet around my form in an effort to ward off the cold. My back and shoulders ached with each move I made, but my legs seemed to be working well enough, if not a little sore. My hands appeared to have taken the worst of it. The flesh there was stained red with blood and rough with cuts and bruises, and I was missing several fingernails. Someone had wrapped both of my hands in the thick, black gauze that had previously bound my elbows, clearly in an effort to quell some of the bleeding before it had the chance to grow any worse. As I moved, tiny drops of blood escaped from the wrappings and splashed onto the floor, leaving a tiny, crimson trail behind me.

Squinting, I clawed at the walls with broken fingernails, frantically searching for an exit. The walls were slick and slimy with moisture, and seemed to secrete a disgusting black goop. When I pushed against the walls, I discovered that the walls were oddly permeable and felt almost _squishy-_ like a giant sponge. The harder I pushed, the more of my arm I could fit through the wall.

I braced my legs against the curvature where the floor met the wall, centering all my weight in my core to aid in keeping myself upright. I then gather what little strength I had into my right fist, and slammed into the wall as hard as I could. My fist bounced back into my chest, knocking the breath from my longs. I coughed loudly, spitting out a disgusting chunk of an unknown, pinkish-substance as I did. Blood dripped onto the frigid stone floor beside my left foot. Only when I touched my lips did I realize where it was coming from...

_Me._

I slumped against the wall, curling up into a ball on the floor. My back twinged as I did, as if to remind me that I was horribly injured and I probably shouldn't have even been moving. I couldn't bring myself to care.

All I could think about was the blood that had dripped from my fingertips and fingernails, blanketing the floor in tiny crimson droplets. I was a Hozuki, and I wasn't supposed to bleed- yet I _had. _It was just like Yagura had said.

I wasn't normal.

Well, I suppose I was, but not normal for a Hozuki. Injuries were trivial in the mind's of my clan members, little things that didn't matter nor effect them in the slightest. But I had always been different. I had always been smaller and more delicate than any of my relatives had ever been, with tooth-pick thin thighs and tiny wrists. Most of my cousins were lithe and toned, lanky with rippling muscles covering every inch of their forms. For some reason, I had never looked that way. I had always been delicate- _weak _- in both body and constitution. As a child, I had grown sick often, and both my parents were convinced that I had inherited my mother's sickle cell anemia because of it. No matter what I had done to stay healthy, I would eventually succumb to whatever illness was currently in the area at the time. In fact, I had spent most of my childhood confined to my room in an effort to keep myself from contracting any deadly diseases. Kirigakure had a history of disease-oriented epidemics, and a particularly strong one would come around every few years and wipe out half of our population. As a result, almost every couple was required to have at least two children. My parents were the exception to that rule.

I had paid their price.

I had been the one who bled because of their mistakes. I had been the one forced to schlep through life as the "failure" of our clan. I had been the one to bandage my cuts and tend to my bruises. It had always been _me. _My parents had never been able to help me through the pain and the suffering I had been forced to endure. They did not understand pain. They only caused it.

And I was simply a thorn in their sides.

If what Yagura had said was anything to go by, then my grandmother had been the exact same way. She had been described as weak and sickly as a child, but a hearty and courageous adult- that is, until she betrayed the village. As disgusting her treachery was, I couldn't deny that she had been a powerful kunoichi. I had once admired her, but I now saw the truth. She had been a liar and a thief, feeding on the power of others in an effort to further her own. Yagura had taken interest in me simply because of what _she _had done, and what he assumed I would be capable of if he left me on my own for too long. Like a jinchūriki, I was to be chained to the very foundation of this village in an effort to keep me from ever seeking refuge anywhere else. My body was not my own.

I belonged to Kirigakure.

I sniffed, wiping at my eyes with the edge of my shredded sleeve. _I wasn't crying_, I thought, despite knowing good and well that I was. Tiny, barely visible teardrops dripped onto the sheet wrapped around me, spreading out across the fabric like blood.

_Worthless!_

No one ever wanted _me. _Anyone that had ever shown interest in me was only interested because of what someone else had done, whether it was Mangetsu, my grandmother, or my mother, but never in _me. _I was simply the gateway to their desires.

But not this time. This time, no matter where I was or what I was doing, I was going to do it my own way. I wouldn't use the power Yagura was after- in fact, I'd avoid it to the best of my ability. I wouldn't give them anything that wasn't mine.

False victories were worthless to me. Anything that was not my own was _worthless. _I had lived my entire life in a sheltered world, hidden within the walls of the Hozuki compound like some sort of shinobi Rapunzel, and now I was finally going to be able to prove my worth. I clearly wasn't in Kirigakure anymore, and I was likely in the land of my destined summon. I crossed my fingers, silently praying for something unique. I didn't want a shark or a toad, or anything like that. I wanted something no one else had.

Light flooded the room, slicing through the ominous darkness like a well-sharpened blade. As if by magic, a door appeared on the far wall. A silhouette of what I could only assume was a teenage girl stood on the other side, arms crossed in what I could only assume was an act of intimidation. Her posture was rigid and forced, as if someone had rammed a steel cable down her spine. For several moments, she did not move. I didn't either. I held my breath despite knowing that the girl could _clearly _see me from where she stood.

But sometimes even I like to play pretend.

Moments later, the girl finally decided to move. She stalked towards me, still nothing but a dark shadow in an even darker room. She had an advantage already, I could tell. She could see who I was and how injured I was, whereas I couldn't see anything besides the faintest outline of her form. If she lunged at me, I would hardly be able to defend myself.

I felt around for my pouch, silently thanking my mother for _finally _getting something right, and pulled out a kunai. I had been stupid enough to run off before I had the chance to pull my naginata from its resting place beneath the floorboards- in fact, almost all of my shinobi equipment was still at home, secured beneath a loosely-nailed floorboard for safe keeping.

_At least it's something, _I thought, gazing at the kunai in my palm.

The woman came closer.

I saw her feet first. They were bare and calloused, muddied with dirt and grime like that of a shinobi. My gaze traveled upwards, flickering over her toned calves and muscular thighs and stopping briefly at her hips. The woman had tied a forehead protector around her waist, but that was not was caught my attention. It was the insignia on the forehead protector that had me worried.

When I studied the inscription on her forehead protector, I realized that what was inscribed on the impeccably polished metal was a single palm tree.

_Not even a real shinobi village, then?_

Inwardly, I named all the villages in our world- Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Sunagakure, Konohagakure, Yukigakure, Hoshigakure, Yugakure... I knew them all, forehead protector insignias included. Never once had I seen or heard of a shinobi village relating to the palm tree. Sunagakure, I supposed, could pull it off, but they chose not to and had instead gone with a different insignia.

Clearly, I was not dealing with a normal enemy. This person could be _anyone_, and I would have no idea. The forehead protector was a vital part of shinobi identification. Even missing nin did not discard their headbands. Wearing a shinobi forehead protector was an _honor, _and not even the most grisly of individuals dared to part with their own. Modification and falsely wearing a forehead protector was almost as bad as throwing it away in distaste. You could wear the forehead protector however you wanted, wherever you wanted, but you were not supposed to tamper with its insignia as long as you were a member of your respective shinobi village.

My enemy was a rogue.

I braced my free hand on the floor, ignoring the disgusting slickness I felt against my palms in favor of gripping my kunai with my left hand. I pointed it upwards, aiming as best as I could in the direction of the woman's face. Without giving her a chance to react, I released the kunai.

It hit nothing but air.

The woman moved faster than I had expected. She caught my elbow with one hand, and gripped my remaining arm in the other. Before I had the chance to struggle, she had already transferred both of my bony arms to her right hand, where she tightly gripped my wrists. I swallowed hard, feeling totally defenseless. This woman was clearly strong enough to restrain me with one hand, so what chance did I have against her without my chakra?

Without thinking, I spat in her face.

The woman's form wavered, briefly breaking apart and then reforming into the same, shadowy shape that I had seen before. The woman did not react. Instead, she simply picked me up off of the floor and threw me over her shoulder. She had long, dirty blonde hair, and when she began to move, said hair managed to get in both my eyes and my mouth. I shrieked, kicking at her with what little strength I had left, but nothing happened. The woman simply readjusted her grip, further locking me in place.

I screamed yet again and raised my fist, punching her as hard as I could.

"LET GO!" I shrieked.

Seconds later, she did.

I hit the floor with a thump, landing on my stomach like a turtle. I rolled over, flipping onto my back and then pushing myself up off the ground in defiance. I was about to make a run for it, but I stopped when I realized where I stood.

We were in a large, open-roofed room. The entirety of its area was filling with crystalline, sparkling water that was so clear that it was almost transparent. Almost instantly, some of the soreness in my muscles began to lessen, and I looked down to see the wound in my chest beginning to close up. I placed a hand over the tear in my top, tightly gripping the torn curvature between my hip and my thigh where blood had once flowed freely from my injuries. The tissue reconnected before my eyes, as if I was being stitched back together by some sort of invisible thread. I released my grip on my top and instead flexed my fingers, watching in a mixture of amazement and horror as the cuts on my skin began to disappear.

The blood remained in its original position, forming dark brown stains on my skin and rippling, now sopping-wet clothing and hair. There would be no hiding it, I realized as I clutched at the fragments that remained of my top. Everyone would be able to plainly see that I had been hurt and defeated by something that wasn't even _human. _My failure would be painfully obvious when I returned to the Academy.

_...That is, if I ever escaped this place._

I straightened up, popping my back with a loud and deeply satisfying crack. I then turned towards the woman, looking to her expectantly. I blanched when she stepped foreword, finally coming into the light. Her face was nonexistent, more of a shadowy smear than anything else. Her hair looked more like ancient seaweed, I realized, and her skin was like driftwood, smooth and gritty, and as pale as birch bark. She didn't look human, but more like a headless body that had attempted to compensate for her lack of a head by distorting the world around her.

And it was then that I knew where I was.

I was in the Land of Mirages, hidden deep within the same heavily guarded realm as the more well-known Mount Myōboku, home of the giant toads. Unlike the other land, however, the Land of Mirages was one place that had never been truly seen. The terrain surrounding the area was supposedly untravelable, filled with water and dangerous beasts on all sides, with a shore that only lead to a desert of bones. I could name only a few animals associated with this supposedly untouched land- the clam, crab, and conch king. I knew of little else hearty enough to survive such rugged terrain, and I could only assume that I was within one of their three respective homes at that very moment.

I searched the room's walls and floors for something recognizable- perhaps a statue, or an enormous kanji baring the name of its respective animal- that would hopefully tell me where I was. I found nothing but cold, white sand. The room and its contents were bizarrely clean and almost _chilly _in atmosphere, as if someone had cleaned the area to the point of excessiveness and had somehow succeeded in wiping away all signs of life. I saw no plant life or other vegetation, or anything alive, really,

Frantically, I dropped to my knees, digging through the sand and silently praying that I had not been summoned to the home of the sea slugs. They were known to live exceptionally clean lifestyles, eating away at whatever grime they found in their home of choice until there was nothing left. If I was anywhere at all, it made sense that I would be _there, _with them. The sea slugs were a lesser known, less powerful version of the traditional slug summon that lived only in the sea. They were about as useful in a battle as a potato, and they were by far one of the worst summons I could have received. If I had them for a summon, I'd never be able to live it down. As Yagura's disciple, I had a certain reputation to uphold and I couldn't be seen with such lowly creatures.

The sand shifted beneath me, revealing a tiny mollusk with a slanted oval shell. I sighed with relief, thanking my good fortune. I picked it up, blowing the remains of the sand off of its shell in order to get a better look at the creature. When I did, the creature emitted a strange squealing sound and attempted to jump out of my hands. Thankfully, I managed to catch it before it could fly out of my grasp.

"What are you, anyway?" I asked quietly.

I received no response, but then again, I hadn't expected one. Only certain animals could speak, and it seemed that this one couldn't do anything aside from squeal when I lifted it. _Useless, _I decided.

The creature proceeded to spit boiling water in my face.

I gasped, reflexively hurling the small animal across the room, where it hit the wall and shattered into far too many pieces to be repaired. A hush fell over the already quiet room, as if the other mollusks were needlessly mourning the loss of a comrade. I scowled, rubbing at my throbbing cheek with the edge of my shredded shirt sleeve. My flesh stung with pain but I couldn't bring myself to care. I was far too disappointed in myself to even think of feeling any remorse for what I had done, much less baby myself over something as trivial as a burn.

This time, the water did not heal me. It was as if an invisible force was somehow punishing me for my wrong-doings and forcing me to endure the pain it deemed me deserving of. Instead, the water healed the mollusk.

The creature pieced itself back together, its internal organs reforming and knitting together beneath tissue and a shell until it was once again complete. I approached it, pulling it from the dent it had made in the wall before it had shattered and cupping it in my hands. I stared at it, searching for something, _anything, _that told me I was supposed to be here. The creature stayed silent, as if it was waiting for something.

_There's no way it expects me to-_

"I'm... I'm... I'm _sorry, _okay?! Isn't that enough for you, hearing me grovel like this? Show yourself, you bastard!" I shrieked.

Oddly enough, my words rang out cleanly through the water rather than sounding like garbled choking like I had expected them to. Clearly, there was more to this room than meets the eye... _A space-time ninjutsu, perhaps? _As far as I knew, sound waves did not travel through water like they did on land. If anything, my words should have been nothing but bubbles.

But they were not.

"You're a brat, a thief, and a danger to us all, but I'll welcome you here, Hozuki Chinatsu. After all, one cannot control another's destiny." A low, raspy voice hissed from somewhere behind me.

I jumped at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, dropping the small mollusk in my haste. I turned towards the strange woman from before, and realized that she was not who or what I thought she was. The strange woman had been replaced by a clam so large that it was unable to fit the entirety of its form within the room itself and was instead hovering above it. It's shadow was large enough to cover the entire room, leaving me completely in the dark.

_Holy shit, _I gasped, sounding far too much like my mother for my liking.

"I am the Clam King, the father of all mirages and poisonous darkness. I see all, know all, and I know _you, _Hozuki Chinatsu. Do not think that you can slip past me yet again."

"What do you mean 'again'?! I'VE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE!" I screamed, throwing my arms into the air in order to better illustrate my rage.

"You have indeed walked this land, child. Perhaps not in this life, but in a previous one. You birthed the closest thing we've ever had to a clam sage some seventy years ago... the Nidaime Mizukage, I believe?" The clam murmured, sounding almost _jovial _at the sound of my irritation.

I snorted. "Birthed my ass. I'm seven, you imbecile!"

Outwardly, I was mouthing off, but inwardly, I was jumping for joy. The clam summon and the conch summon were both _extremely _powerful- if not rarely used- summons, and the clam in particular had been utilized by at least two of our previous mizukage. I was lucky to be blessed with the natural affinity for such a strong summon.

But I couldn't tell them that.

"You don't speak like a child your age should. Show some respect for your elders, littleneck.*" The giant clam chastised.

When the clam spoke, his jaws opened and shut with every word, resembling a book being slammed closed and then reopened, repeatedly. It was almost comical, and I couldn't take him seriously because of it. I was sure he meant to be intimidating, but _no one _-aside from Yagura and my mother, that is- scared me. I _definitely_ wasn't afraid of some self-important, know-it-all clam.

"I give respect when it's earned, but never before that. So suck it up and deal with it, old man."

I imagine that if clams had eyes, the creature would have rolled his own at that very moment.

"Are we going to do this or not?" The clam groused, sounding thoroughly offended.

He muttered something about "kids these days" under his breath when he thought I couldn't hear him, and I couldn't help but laugh at his plight. For someone supposedly so "powerful," he was certainly easily annoyed.

I smirked in response to his question, grinning cruelly. "Damn straight. Let's get this over with, already. I don't want to be an old woman by the time we're finished here!"

The clam muttered something else, but I could hardly hear him this time. It seemed he was learning, after all.

Anything and everything he said could be used against him.

The woman from before appeared out of nowhere, looking just as she had moments ago. Her face was nothing but an inky smear, but her posture was significantly more defensive than it had been before. She stalked towards me like a robot, and it was only then that I realized she was some sort of genjutsu-powered puppet. If I looked hard enough, I could see thin, black chakra strings that extended from her spine and backs of her thighs, and I could only assume someone was controlling them from the shadows. I had no idea _who _but I knew it had to be someone human. The puppetry techniques required the usage of hands and fingers, whereas clams didn't have any additional appendages to speak of, therefor rendering them unable to control puppets.

_What could they do, then? Don't you need hands for almost everything?_

I remembered the clam from before spitting water in my face, and that _had _hurt, but it was hardly a weapon. They couldn't seem to produce jutsu or do much of anything at all, yet they were still written off as a "highly powerful yet rare" summon. Why was that?

_What were they hiding?_

I found out soon enough.

* * *

><p>*Littleneck is the term for a baby clam ;)<p>

Sorry for the slow updates. I have exams next week, so I'm cramming. Plus, I continued to have persistent writers block and rewrote this chapter an obscene amount of times. Sorry, guys!

Also, I did some research on Chinatsu's personality type for a class and found that she falls into a very specific category of asshole. I've written a brief description of her "type" down in an effort to debunk some of the questions circulating about her... And extra information is always good, no? Anyway, said information can be found in a Google document that I have linked in my profile. (FF won't allow these sorts of posts in a story format)

According to my psychology professor, Chinatsu's type of character is one that suffers from "narcissistic personality disorder." She's really... strange, I think, and looking at the bio might be helpful.

Also: To clarify, she _can _use the Hydrification Technique, but only when in absolutely dire need. Her ability to use it sort of fluctuates, as seen when she was able to survive the Kaguya blade going _completely _through her with no complications, but wound up getting totally destroyed against the giant sea urchin. As to why that is will be explained eventually... ;)

-MSM-


	13. Chapter Twelve:

**Chapter Twelve: The Truth Comes Out**

But we were men  
>We walk the front lines<br>We defend our country with our lives  
>We pretend to see truth in all these lies<br>'Cause in the end we were men  
>We were men<p>

**...**

_I found out soon enough._

An enormous scroll clattered to the floor, unrolling on its own to reveal a jumble of smeared seals. The scroll was soaking wet, like everything else was, but still readable from where I stood. My name made an appearance at least twice, scrawled beneath a mess of kanji that appeared to be a list of every previous user of the clam summon. I spotted my uncle on the list, along with several other Hozuki that I had never heard of before. I spotted the founder of Kirigakure's name, smudged out with a distinct carefulness that made my stomach clench with dread. Whatever had happened has been intentional, I was sure of it. His name had been completely removed, hidden beneath a layer of dark ink. Only his title remained, as if it was a warning.

_Why? _I couldn't help but wonder. _What did he do that was so truly despicable, so terrible enough to deserve this shame?_

My name appeared for the third time, right at the very bottom, beneath "Hozuki Hachiro," which was almost completely faded from the parchment. Splotches of black ink quickly fell to hide his name, and my own name somehow replaced it. It was even more bizarre than the strange smear across the founder's name... This time, he had been _completely _erased.

_And replaced... by me..._

"The seal is almost complete, child. Bring forth your blood, and so it shall be completed."

I scowled at him, barely able to mask my frustration. "Are you _kidding _me?! I don't have any blood left to give!"

The earlier fight coupled with chakra exhaustion and dehydration left me in a dangerous position. If I pushed myself too hard, I could die. If I was forced to bring forth too much blood, I just _knew _I'd end up dead. There was no way I could do it, no way.

The clam snorted with indignancy , as if he found me horribly amusing. "Of course you do! You're a Hozuki, after all. You heal quickly, don't you?"

I didn't want to expose my weaknesses, so I nodded and prayed the clam wouldn't discover my problem on his own. I didn't want to risk him deciding I was no longer worthy of his summon. There was no way I was going to be able to go home without one, especially after all the fuss I had made earlier. Leaving now would be pure cowardice.

"I'll be fine," I lied.

_Please, Kami, let this just be a prick on the fingertip._

The clam did not utter another word. Instead, he watched me with a cold, calculating sort of intensity that made my stomach clench violently. I imagine it would have been worse if he had eyes, but for once... I was lucky.

I did not see the blade until it was completely buried in my sternum, scraping against my spine and leaving me hollow, like a freshly gutted fish. Blood poured into the water in what looked like gallons, flooding my flesh and staining the formerly pristine white sand. I wanted to retch, but I resisted the urge and simply settled for biting my lips as hard as I could. Oddly enough, I felt no real pain in my wounds, but rather a dull hum that seemed to spread from the base of my spine upwards until it was hammering so loudly in my skull that I felt as if my brains would split in two.

Lightning exploded behind me, sending out a pulse so great that my hair rushed past my head, freed from its ponytail and tearing at my scalp as my hair follicles struggled to remain on my skull while my arms stung as particles of sand thwacked against my bare, fragile flesh. The force was so great that I couldn't even turn my head to look in the direction of its cause and was instead stuck in the same position I had been in just before it started. I was too afraid to move anything else, silently praying that my body wouldn't fall completely apart at the base of my wound. I wanted so very badly to turn around and scream at the cause of this all, but I was unable to and _so _tired.

My stomach clenched when I heard footsteps. They weren't particularly loud, so I could only assume that whoever it was wasn't particularly muscular or heavy- _perhaps female?-_ and was probably either very small or very light. Maybe even around my size if I was lucky.

"Utakata?" I rasped questioningly, voice cracking as I struggled to make myself heard.

I do not know why I wished for Utakata instead of someone more agreeable, like quiet Chōjūrō. I don't know why I saw Utakata with his snarky smile and disinterested brown eyes and silken hair, the boy in the raggedy t-shirt that had dared to go against me. I do not know why I _wanted _him to be there. Feeling off-kilter, I blamed the blood loss and finally dared to turn my head.

It was not Utakata that I saw standing in front of me.

I looked up and into the blood-red eyes of an old, _old _man with bone-white hair that hung well past his waist. He stood, stooped over and grasping a knobby wooden cane, and smiled in a bizarre sort of way that made my skin crawl. But the worst part of all was his face. He was as gaunt and drawn as a skeleton, and his face was dry and severe in ways I hadn't seen before. He looked almost as if he been dug out of a grave and let loose in the streets. The old man was roughly the size I had assumed he would be, taller than me but light weight enough to pass for smaller. It was as if he was being intentionally deceptive.

_But that can't be right... He's just an old man!_

"Finally," He said, "We meet again, Hozuki Chinatsu."

My very soul seemed to shiver at the sound of his low, keening voice. I wanted to push him out of my mind, but his presence was so positively _suffocating _that I couldn't ignore him in the slightest. It was as if he was inside my head rather than right in front of me, and it was all that I could do to tear my eyes away from his.

I wanted to ask him where and why he was here, but no words seemed to come out of my mouth. It was as if my tongue had locked up, constricted in my jaw and impossible to move.

_What do you mean 'we meet again'?! Another enemy from my grandmother's days?_

"You look terrible," The old man chided, hobbling towards me and whacking my wound with his cane, smiling the entire time as if nothing was happening whatsoever.

"I know," I replied, attempting to smooth out my stained clothing and cup my wound at the same time. After the clams had drawn the blood needed for the seal, my already-ruined outfit was in _tatters. _I knew that when I finally made it home, my mother was going to kill me for ruining my clothes so soon.

The old man had a bizarrely regal look to him, and my own appearance made me feel like a complete commoner when compared to him. It wasn't what he was wearing, as plain white haori are hardly _regal_, but rather the way he stood with his hands clasped and his head titled to the side, almost like an owl studying its pray. His eyes were a strange shade somewhere in between hellish, obsidian black and thick, bloody red, which only made him all the more bizarre to look at it.

Something about him was disturbingly familiar, but I couldn't figure out what.

"Old clams giving you a hard time, eh?" He cackled wickedly, clasping his cane tightly in an effort to keep himself from falling over in his hysteria.

I glared at him, and he met my gaze with one of his own. However, his glare was so terrifyingly strong that it seemed as if he was _daring _me to make a move against him. His eyes alone were frigid enough to make hell freeze over, and that itself was unsettling on its own.

"No," I lied, "I was just having some fun."

I could tell he didn't believe me because he rolled his eyes and pursed his full lips. I snorted into my palm, scarcely believing what I was seeing. Was this old man _pouting?!_

"I'm not an idiot, child." He stated, whacking me yet again with his cane, this time on my stomach.

This one, I felt.

"Ow- hey, you bastard, stop that!" I moaned, doubling over and curling up into a ball on the ground.

The old man snorted, muttering something about "damn sheep" under his breath before smiling yet again in an even more sinister manner than before. I could barely resist the urge to fly up and kick him as hard as I could.

_Feel my pain... And then see if you dare to laugh at me._

"Get up and stop playing," He suddenly shouted, low, keening voice cracking with a combination of effort and pure, unadulterated anger.

I got up.

I was tempted- _so very tempted_- to mouth off, but something about the way he held his cane told me I wouldn't get off easily if I treated him in the same manner that I treated everyone else. I wasn't quite sure what was so... _off... _about the old man, but whatever it was, I didn't want to get into it.

"Better," He muttered, sounding resigned.

The clam seemed to choose that moment to speak up.

"Uchiha Madara," It said, "It's been a long, _long _time."

"Wait- _what?!_" I shouted.

There was _no _way that this old man was Uchiha Madara, wielder of the famous Mangekyō Sharingan and patriarch of the Uchiha clan. That man had died years ago against the God of Shinobi in an honorable battle between good and evil. He was **dead.**

The old man turned to me and smiled that same dangerous smile. His eyes glowed blood-red in the darkness like hellfire, and his Sharigan spun into nothing but a blur as we locked eyes with one another.

"Rule number one of genjutsu," He said, "**_Never_** look an Uchiha straight in the face."

_One by one, they all fell down._

* * *

><p>I awoke to the sight of Yagura sitting complacently beside me. It was only then that I realized I was almost his height, with longer legs and a shorter abdomen. If it hadn't been for his skill level, I doubted <em>anyone <em>would have taken Yagura seriously.

Yagura looked bizarrely serene as he gazed out to the sea, wind whipping through his short grey hair. He smelt faintly of pomegranates for reasons I did not understand, and when he turned to look at me, his smile made my stomach flip.

"So, you're awake then?" He asked as if I wasn't looking right at him.

I nodded delicately, neck muscles screaming in protest with each move I made.

"Something around here... is off," I informed him, pushing myself up off of the sand and situating myself just beside Yagura. I straightened up to my full height and pouted when I realized that I was still far from surpassing Yagura.

"Off?" Yagura whispered.

His voice sounded faint and almost choked, as if he was drained of every ounce of energy he possessed. I could only wonder about who he must have gone up against to tire himself out on such a level.

_Is the Mizukage... hurt?_

_No,_ I thought, shaking my head dismissively, _he can't be. _Yagura was unstoppable and unbreakable, a true force to be reckoned with. He did not loose or give up. Instead, he only fought harder. He did not "get hurt". Yagura _always _came out on top.

"Yes," I whispered, curling into the gritty sand, "_Off._"

I wanted so very badly to ask about the old man, but I didn't dare. Yagura would probably be irritated by my questions and wind up slapping me in the face if I wasn't careful. He didn't like people wasting his time, and as far as I was concerned, a Madara Uchiha impostor was the least of his worries.

Yagura didn't speak again for a good fifteen minutes. Instead, we sat in stoney silence, almost touching three times. I was too close to him and I knew it, but I felt safer next to his enormous chakra signature, like I'd disappeared. Not that I'd ever tell him that, though.

Even I had to keep a few secrets of my own.

The sun was low in the sky, painting the sea a dark, reddish-purple as the stars grew brighter and brighter behind it. It was later than I had expected, but I didn't mind much. A day wasted in the Academy was just as useless as a day wasted under the sea. I had gotten something out if it, as I should have, so I felt no remorse for my actions. Tomorrow, I planned to waltz into the Academy and show-off my new summon. If Ao's words had been anything to go by, my classmates would only just be getting theirs tomorrow. I'd have something no one else had, and that thought alone made me glow with pride.

"Yagura-sama," I said with a snort, "Who was that old man? I saw him when I got my summon, and he said he was _Madara Uchiha! _Can you believe that load of garbage?!"

I laughed aloud, flopping onto my back and kicking at the sand in glee. There was no way that old man had been Madara Uchiha, one of the strongest shinobi to have ever lived. He had been defeated by Hashirama Senju almost fourty-five years ago. _Everyone _knew that. He was probably just a delusional Uchiha elder or perhaps he shared the same name as the former. Either way, I was convinced he couldn't be the real deal.

No way.

"Really?" Yagura whispered, sounding even more drained than before, "That's _odd._ Why would he claim to be Madara of all things?"

I was about to nod, happy with his logical reply, but something in his face told me he was lying. His coral-colored eyes would not meet my own, which was an _exceedingly _rare occurrence when dealing with Yagura. He always looked into your eyes, showing no fear or confusion in regards to what he would find there.

_He's acting... out of character._

"What's wrong with you, Mizukage?" I breathed.

He did not answer me, so I daringly pinched his thigh. He didn't react in the slightest, which only served to worry me more. If anything, I should have been writhing in pain at his hands. He should have made me pay for what I had done, no matter how insignificant it was. He should have been violent, angry, and _wretched_.

But he was not.

"What's wrong with you?" I repeated, louder this time.

Yagura's coral-colored eyes are wide and unseeing, as if all the life had been drained out of them.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" I screamed, shaking him as hard as I could, "ANSWER ME!"

Yagura fell limp to the ground, one of his arms still slung over my shoulder from the wild shaking I'd given him. I almost screamed, but then I realized he was still breathing normally. I had no idea what to do in these situations! My mother had always said "when in doubt, kill the bastard," but that certainly wouldn't help me here. I _needed _Yagura to make me stronger. Then, he could die whenever he felt like it.

But not before I surpassed Mangetsu.

Yagura's rough palms found the sides of my face and pulled me towards him. I almost choked at the sudden change in attitude, but didn't react. I had _no _idea what Yagura was doing or why, and I was happy to quiet down and allow him to explain.

"Run, Chinatsu," Yagura whispered.

His voice sounded strangely garbled, as if he was choking on blood despite the fact that he looked fine- if not a little pale. I wanted to ask if he was okay, but the way he was looking at me told me all I needed to know.

_Yagura was gone._

Behind him stood a little old man with white, white hair.

"I hope," He said with a malicious chuckle, "You know that you can never escape me."

And it was then that I comprehended the gravity of the situation. That was Madara Uchiha. It was him who had been the Mizukage's puppeteer, but when I came along I had severed all of his strings.

Now, he was after me.

* * *

><p>I didn't wait to start running. I just <em>moved <em>like I never had before, running at top speed until it felt like my legs would give way. I saw no sign of the hobbling old man- _Madara _-but that didn't mean he wasn't there.

My heart pounded in my chest like a jackhammer, so loud and frantic that it was the only thing I could hear. Fear was consuming me, eating away at my mind and body until I was nothing but a shell of my former self. I was so worried for Yagura that I couldn't think straight. While he had never been exactly _kind, _Yagura was the first person to acknowledge me. He was the first person to take me on as a student and the closest thing I'd ever had to an affectionate elder brother. Mangetsu was kind enough, but my hatred for him was too strong to be overcome by something as simple as a show of attention. Yagura was better in every way, even if he was probably thirty-something years old and way too old to spend time with me as anything other than a sensei.

_Gotta run, gotta run!_

I sprinted towards the safest place I could think of... The Kirigakure Ninja Academy. There, Ao could protect me and I could hide amongst my peers. Hiding in plain sight wasn't difficult for someone as short as I was, especially in a classroom filled with students ranging from tiny, _tiny _Chōjūrō to enormous Hoshigaki Kasumi, who was far too tall for her own good. Compared to my diverse classmates, I was about as interesting and shocking as a dirty stick. Surely, he wouldn't be able to find me there.

Madara knew what I was thinking before I'd even managed to execute my plan.

I saw him rushing up behind me, a white blur beneath the shade of the trees. He was so mind-numbingly fast, even as an old man, that there was no way I could beat him anywhere. Cursing, I kicked off my sandals and belly-flopped onto the earth and disappeared beneath it. I was nothing but water particles with no chakra, but even then Madara didn't stop chasing after me. I don't know how he managed to pin point my location, but either way, I was _disturbed. _

What on earth did he want?!

Yagura had explained my reincarnation to me just yesterday, and I had no idea why it was such a big deal. I didn't have any special powers or unique assets worth going to all this trouble over. I could only use extremely basic kenjutsu, taijutsu, and poorly-executed ninjutsu. In my mother's opinion, I was a runt, and runts rarely amounted to much. I was just barely an average kunoichi...maybe even a little below average- _f__or now, anyway._

So why did he continue to chase me? Couldn't he wait for whatever it was until _after _I had trained with Yagura? Why now? Why _me?_

And then it clicked.

Madara had been the one controlling Yagura this entire time. His voice was so familiar because it was _Yagura's voice. _I had probably only heard Yagura speak of his own accord during those final moments between us before Madara had appeared, when he'd said 'run'. His voice was a little higher and a smidgen softer, with a more gentle husk to it than Madara's. Whenever Yagura and I had interacted, it had been _Madara_, not him.

It had never been Yagura.

And I had met Madara before. Not in my past life or anything like that, but _here, _in this time. He was the reason for my blurry memories and the root of my insomnia. I didn't sleep walk at all. I never had, never would. I didn't sneak into Suigetsu's room late at night and pin him to the ground with a kunai at his throat. I didn't knock over my mother's swords and dull the tips of her spears with a rock. I had never done any of that. It had been Madara, always _Madara._

He made me move.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

An image of "the woman" from the previous chapter has been linked in my profile! It's fabulous, so _please _take a look.

As for Madara's weird behavior at the beginning of the chapter, well... I wrote him that way so that it came across as him trying to deceive Chinatsu into thinking that he was just a feeble old man. He was trying to make her trust him (good luck with that mate) but she was just weirded out. He got more IC (I HOPE!) towards the end.

ALSO: At this current time, the Uchiha massacre hasn't happened yet. Itachi is the same age as Chinatsu (unintentional, I swear) and he won't kill his clan for another six years.

This is kind of a rubbish update but it will have to do for now. I can't stand sitting there and looking at how long it's been since my last update. Sorry for the lack in updates. I have a bunch of school still...

And finally: A reader of mine (imugly) suggested that I have Chinatsu eventually join up with Team Taka, and I was wondering what your thoughts on that were? It's a good idea, but it will be a challenge to pull off. I'd love to have some input and maybe even some ideas. Thanks for reading!

-MSM-


	14. Chapter Thirteen:

**Chapter Thirteen: Sealed Tight**

And with the end of consciousness, so too is her soul destroyed.

Flesh shall consume her.

Blood shall drown her.

Help her. She is dying.

**. . .**

Madara had been the one controlling Yagura this entire time. His voice was so familiar because it was _Yagura's voice. _I had probably only heard Yagura speak of his own accord during those final moments between us before Madara had appeared, when he'd said 'run'. His voice was a little higher and a smidgen softer, with a more gentle husk to it than Madara's. Whenever Yagura and I had interacted, it had been _Madara_, not him.

It had never been Yagura.

And I had met Madara before. Not in my past life or anything like that, but _here, _in this time. He was the reason for my blurry memories and the root of my insomnia. I didn't sleep walk at all. I never had, never would. I didn't sneak into Suigetsu's room late at night and pin him to the ground with a kunai at his throat. I didn't knock over my mother's swords and dull the tips of her spears with a rock. I had never done any of that. It had been Madara, always _Madara._

He made me move.

* * *

><p>Madara caught up to me before I had the chance to defend myself, shattering the Earth with a punch so strong that it rattled my very soul. Chunks of soil flew through the air, completely torn to shreds from a <em>single <em>punch. I watched the ground around me crack and fall to pieces and the grass withered around me, but I did not move. I was far too cold and tired, feeling drenched from the inside out. It was as if the wetness from the Land of Mirages had soaked into my the deepest recesses of mind and I could no longer fend off its advances. I ached all over and my chakra was long, _long_ gone, and at that point I couldn't even muster the energy to care.

I had no choice but to give up.

"Fool," Madara hissed, "Did you _really _think you could escape _me_?"

Madara's Sharingan spun wildly until they were nothing but a blur of red, hot hell and I could no longer resist staring at them. His eyes were so bright, _so insane_, that I couldn't look away. It was no longer my choice.

My mouth moved on its own, completely ignoring my commands.

"No," I whispered, sounding more like a machine than myself, "Never."

A small smirk of utter satisfaction spread across Madara's gaunt face, and he reached out towards me, wrapping a bony, dry arm around my waist and heaving my upwards. I collapsed against him like a rag doll, _empty _and drained. I didn't have the will to fight him any longer. I _never _had. Instead, I had played right into his hand, completely unaware of what I was doing and who I had destroyed.

_Yagura... I'm sorry... But I give up._

Madara's body was so cold that it gave me chills, and when he shifted, I felt no pulse. His very skin was so rough and frigid that it felt as if he had be pulled from the frost-bitten earth only seconds before. He didn't feel, in any way, shape or form, like a human being. Instead, Madara felt like stone, so cold and impenetrable that no humanity remained. Only evil.

I did not cry. Any other girl my age would have wept in this situation, but I was so numb and chilled to the bone that I couldn't think straight. All I saw when I closed my eyes was Yagura's tired face, cheeks bruised and skin stretched so tightly over his bones that he looked more like a skeleton than a human being. Madara had drained him of every ounce of his precious life chakra until he simply couldn't go on any more. When the genjutsu had cracked for just a moment, allowing the true Yagura to shine through, I realized he would have been small enough to carry, wrapped up tight in my arms just like I would have with Suigetsu.

I couldn't believe that I had been afraid of him. I had scorned him and wished the worst upon him, even as I slept while he suffered through day after _day _of torment. Yagura had not deserved to carry the weight of my burdens on top of his own. He had not deserved to be used like a tool, completely broken and worn through until all that had remained of him was a mere shell of the man he once was.

I should have carried him then. I should have lifted him from the ground like Madara had done me and ran until my legs could no longer carry me. I should not have abandoned him. His commands could go to hell for all I cared. I should have realized that then, when I truly needed to, when Yagura had no hope left. Yagura deserved better than a dishonorable death, tossed aside like a broken toy by a petulant child. Yagura deserved _so_ much better.

He had chosen me instead of Mangetsu. He had chosen _me _out of everyone else in the entire village to carry on his beliefs. I was supposed to be his disciple and his right hand man. I would be the one to inherit his throne, to stand atop the vicious hellhole that was the shinobi world and command Kirigakure's men. There would be no one else. Once a disciple was chosen, they were slated to inherit the position of Mizukage or at the very least function as the Mizukage's assistant. They were chosen once in a generation to lead their peers, and were almost always the greatest protégés of their Era. Unlike my predecessors, I had not been a protégé. I had been the shortest, most delicately-built member of my family who's only talent was being of above-average intelligence. I had little else to offer as a kunoichi.

But Yagura had chosen me anyway. He had chosen me for reasons I did not understand and would probably never understand, but I couldn't help but feel at least _slightly _grateful for what he had done. Yagura had given me the chance to show the world that I was worth something.

And then Madara had taken that chance and destroyed _everything. _He had taken my hopes and dreams- as foolish as they might have been - and completely _destroyed _them. They were now mere ashes on the ground, burnt to pieces by the blackened flames of hell.

_Amaterasu._

And in that moment, my hatred consumed me, clawing at my soul like a bloodthirsty demon awakening from its slumber.

The world bled black.

* * *

><p>I awoke with a start, gasping for breath and clutching at my hammering heart.<p>

I expected to see a little old man with hair as white as snow standing beside me, his bony hands clutching my throat. But I did not. All I saw was a darkened bedroom that looked suspiciously like my own. If I concentrated, I could just _barely _make out the silhouette of my bookshelves on the back wall and the enormous stuffed rabbit my father had given me when I was just three years old still sat in the corner beneath them. My bedside table was just as it had been when I was last home, bare except for a dusty glass of stale water and my well-worn copy of the _Tale of Genji_. From the looks of it, nothing had changed in the slightest.

_Was it… all a dream? _I wondered.

"No," Someone said, "It wasn't."

I jumped so violently that I hit my head on the bedframe and almost blacked out.

"Huh?" I breathed, too tired and dehydrated to form an intelligible sentence.

"Don't be afraid," The same ghastly voice cooed, as if they intended to _comfort _me.

A pair of smooth, cool hands grasped my face and cupped my chin in their palm. One hand was smooth, as if made of pure gelatin, whilst the other was as roughened as tree bark. I wanted to pull away from them and perhaps tell them to shove their affections up their asses just like my mother had with me when I was a child, but I didn't dare. This person's grip was solid, like tempered steel, and so strong that I couldn't even tilt my head, much less fight them off without any aid.

I was stuck.

"Obito," Another voice murmured, "Turn on the goddamned lights."

I recognized that voice. I had heard it only twice before, in two different forms. It was Madara's voice. He, I realized, was here as well.

My stomach clenched painfully, distracting me from my dark thoughts. I hadn't eaten in three days and I had overexerted myself multiple times today alone. If I didn't eat something soon, I didn't doubt that I would die.

"Yes, sir," Obito replied.

He released my chin and stepped away from the futon. Seconds later, I heard what sounded like a match being struck against a stone wall and the room flooded with light. I blinked rapidly as my eyes adjusted the blinding light, shielding my eyes with the flat of my hand.

The room we were in wasn't my bedroom at all. What I had seen earlier was likely just a genjutsu Madara had placed upon me in an effort to keep me calm. In reality, the three of us were inside an _enormous _cave. It was sparsely furnished and boasted only two measly futons and a chair that looked as if it had been carved out of stone itself. A withered old man sat in the stone chair with his back turned towards me, snow-white hair flowing in the behind him like a crude declaration of war. Instantly, I recognized him.

"Uchiha Madara," I rasped.

He turned to face me, dark eyes glinting in the newly illuminated room.

"Of course…" He murmured, "Who else could it be?"

I swallowed, resisting the urge to shudder. I wanted to ask him thousands of questions about why he'd done what he did and why it involved me, but I didn't have the energy to voice any of them.

Instead, I settled for a raspy "Why?"

He didn't answer me. Instead, he turned away and shifted his obsidian gaze from my own to Obito's form.

"Obito," He said, "Bring the girl some water. Can't have her dying on us after all the trouble we went through to get her."

_Trouble? From the looks of it, you didn't have to exert any effort to catch up to me!_

Obito nodded again, seeming completely obedient. It was clear that he had no qualms against following Madara's orders to the tee.

Obito disappeared from sight and returned only moments later, baring a glass of suspiciously brown water. I tore it from his palm and gulped it down anyway, downing the entire glass in one swallow. Madara raised a snow-white brow, looking devilishly amused by my plight.

"Thirsty, are we?" He asked, albeit needlessly.

I ignored him and instead held out my glass.

"More." I demanded.

The water had tasted the way a rotting corpse smelt, but I was too thirsty to care any longer. As a Hozuki, dehydration meant death, and I wasn't ready to die.

Obito humored me and reappeared with another glass of water only seconds later.

He didn't speak, not even when I nodded to him in thanks. Instead, he retreated to the darkened halve of the room and seemed to disappear from sight.

Once he was gone, Madara turned to me and sneered.

"Be grateful to me, girl. Without my tireless efforts, you'd be nothing more than a corpse where you stand."

"How so?" I countered in between gulps of water.

As far as I knew, he'd done _nothing _to save me. Instead, he'd been the one causing me pain. If he had never bothered me in the first place, I would probably still be in the Academy classroom with my peers, learning more about summoning jutsu. Madara hadn't even allowed me one _day _of normalcy. He just couldn't leave me alone.

"When I went to retrieve you, you suffered from an acute heart failure and died on the spot. Luckily, I was there to revive you. You wouldn't be here without me." He said.

I choked on my water.

"Bullshit," I said, completely throwing any formality I possessed out the window.

There was no way that had happened. I had simply fallen asleep when Madara had gone to retrieve me. I hadn't _died _or anything like that. Did he think I was an idiot?!

Madara's eyes darkened dangerously, and I could almost _feel _the flames of Amaterasu stroking my flesh, just _aching _to burn me up from the inside out.

"I won't tolerate any insolence on your part, child. Be a good little girl and follow my rules, and we'll have no problems. You can go back to your dumpy little life as a non-Uchiha brat and train with your beloved Mizukage. I've done all of this for _you _so you better be grateful."

He didn't elaborate any further, leaving me confused and doubtful. If I had _really _died like he said I did, I imagined I would know, if nothing else.

"Yagura is alive?" I whispered, scarcely able to believe what I was hearing.

Madara's eyes glinted strangely, as if he was expressing an emotion I had never seen before. I couldn't read his face, but his pursed lips told me he wasn't happy.

"I keep my promises," He said, turning away from me.

"What promises?" I asked, tilting my head.

As far as I knew, this was the first proper conversation Madara and I had ever had. He might have been watching me, but I hadn't paid him any attention until it was too late. Madara had _never _made me any promises.

"Oh, that's right. I destroyed _those_ memories, didn't I?" He murmured, speaking more to himself than me.

The glass I was holding shattered in my hands. Splinters and fragments of sharp, ragged glass tore at my flesh, but I didn't blink. I didn't even _breathe. _All I saw was _red red red._

"_You did what?!_" I hissed, the pure and unadulterated danger in my tone surprising even myself.

_You had no right to do that. You had no right to ruin me!_

I didn't bother to pull the shards of glass from my palm or quell the bleeding. Instead, I stood up, kicking the sheets aside and brandishing what remained of the broken glass. He _was_ the great Uchiha Madara, but he was just a feeble old man. I could kill him if I pushed the glass through his heart and made him the feel the pain he so richly deserved to experience. This bastard had cheated death more times than I could count, and he had _no right _to mess with me.

I charged at him, rearing back and preparing to throw the glass at him with all of my might. It probably wouldn't kill him if I simply tossed it his way, but it _should _at least cause some damage.

The glass never left my palm.

Instead, I was thrown against the wall with such force that I heard my own spine crack, just as it had when Yagura had fought me. I collapsed onto the floor like a stringless marionette, so injured that I was unable to even sit up. When I looked up, I saw Obito standing in front of me. I wanted to scream and call him every foul word I knew, but I didn't dare. What was staring back at me was not the lanky teenager who had brought me the water, but a _man _wearing a bright orange mask that swirled like an ocean current. I wouldn't have recognized him if it hadn't been for his hair, which was long and grossly unkempt.

"You're welcome," He said, as if he'd just completed a laborious and lengthy favor for me rather than hurling a tiny seven year old into a wall and possibly fracturing her spine.

Madara snorted. "Foolish little girl. Did you really think you could kill _me_?"

I didn't say anything. Instead, I glared at him and prayed a piece of the cave roof would fall on top of him and crush him in the same manner it had me. Nothing happened.

"No," I finally whispered, "But I wanted to."

Madara finally stood up from his throne and reached out towards me. I expected him to slap me, or perhaps throw me around, but that was not the case. Instead, he reached into my gaping mouth and drew out my tongue. I kicked at him, albeit a little weakly, and clawed at his exposed ankles. They were all I could reach and I was running out of time.

"Obito," Madara shouted, "Restrain her! I can't apply this seal one-handed."

_Seal?!_

I looked to Obito, praying for mercy, but he offered none. Instead, he joined Madara and forced me onto my back. He sat on top of my flailing legs, pinning me to the ground with his weight. I screamed as loudly as I could, but Madara seemed unperturbed.

"Now then," He said, "Let the games begin."

He struck a match against the cave wall and flames bloomed from his palms. I couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't using his own chakra to create the flames rather than relying on civilian-style tools, but I didn't dare ask. I couldn't have, even if I wanted to. Madara's grip on my tongue was so strong that I couldn't even _think _of verbalizing.

Needless to say, I was terrified. I was being crushed against a chillingly cold stone floor by two adults _at least_ twice my size and definitely heavier. I could barely breathe beneath Obito's crushing weight, much less Madara's, and I didn't want to be anywhere near that fire. Getting too close to flames had never worked well for me. My skin would boil and blister like cooking oil beneath a flame when I was forced to stand too close to so much as a _campfire. _I was going to die before this was over, I was sure of it.

I screamed again and attempted to bite Madara's intruding hand, but Obito elbowed me so hard in the stomach that I momentarily lost my breath.

"Shut up," He growled.

I did.

The sleep- or coma, I wasn't sure which- had done little for my chakra exhaustion or mental well-being, and certainly hadn't made me any less worried for my life. Well-rested people were supposed to be calm and complacent, but I was just the opposite. I would have kicked Madara in the teeth by now if it hadn't been for Obito.

"Stop that thrashing! You'll tear your sutures open!" Madara barked, slapping me roughly across the face with his freehand.

A single tear dripped from my right eye, which was beginning to swell up from the force of his blow. I didn't even want to think about what he meant by "sutures."

"Ready, Obito?" Madara asked.

He held out his fiery palm, as if waiting for Obito to add something to the mix. Surprisingly enough, he did. Obito pulled a small bottle of what looked like ink from the pocket of his cloak, unscrewed the lid and handed it off to Madara. I went limp beneath them, fearing what their next step would be.

"Now," Madara said, "I can't have you telling _everyone _what you saw today, can we?"

Without waiting for my reply, Madara poured the entire bottle of ink onto his flaming palm and shoved his hand inside my mouth.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Sorry for how short and bad this is. I just wanted to update to let you all know I'm still alive. Writers block is a vicious thing.

Rest assured, all that's going on shall be explained soon enough. Hopefully. Feel free to interpret what's going on as you wish until then.

-MSM-


	15. Chapter Fourteen:

**Chapter Fourteen: **

_"Better to be strong than pretty and useless."  
>― Lilith Saintcrow<em>

**...**

_"Ready, Obito?" Madara asked._

_He held out his fiery palm, as if waiting for Obito to add something to the mix. Surprisingly enough, he did. Obito pulled a small bottle of what looked like ink from the pocket of his cloak, unscrewed the lid and handed it off to Madara. I went limp beneath them, fearing what their next step would be._

_"Now," Madara said, "I can't have you telling everyone what you saw today, can we?"_

_Without waiting for my reply, Madara poured the entire bottle of ink onto his flaming palm and shoved his hand inside my mouth._

* * *

><p>If I could have compared it to anything, it would have been lightning.<p>

When I was little, I sought shelter beneath a tree when a summer thunderstorm swept over the playground. Big mistake. I _still_ had nightmares about that lightning strike that followed, but I'd be damned if I was going to tell anyone else that.

It wasn't just the suddenness of the strike, or the cracking hiss of thunder, or the terror of watching the tree trunk shatter into a thousands of tiny, jagged pieces. What had terrified me the most was the flash itself and the intense electrical charge it had carried and how it made my skin prickle and my long hair stand on end. It hadn't been the way its terrifying brilliance had burned my eyes, never to be forgotten and holding nothing back, that made me fear the lightning strike. It hadn't been the fact that for a minute after that, all I could see were purplish-blue streaks across my retinas, forever ingrained in the forefront my mind, that made me fear lightning.

It was none of those things.

I was no stranger to pain. I had survived my mother's "gentle" abuses and my father's too-rough hugs. I had survived being gutted like fish on a poisoned spike and then being completely sliced in half by an executioner's blade. And even Yagura, when the beat inside him emerged and my flesh was charred by its foul blue chakra all those years ago, when Isobu had first been sealed within him. Despite all that, my mind still could not conceive of a fate more painful than being struck by a bolt of lightning.

That was before Madara's hands grazed my tongue.

The shockwave shot through my jaw and neck, paralyzing them both and scorching every last one of my nerve endings until they were crackling like lit embers. If it hadn't, I might have bitten through Madara's ink-stained hand. My razor-sharp teeth weren't just for show, and Madara knew this well. He kept my jaw braced against the floor, leaving me unable to bite down. It seemed even that _Madara_ knew when he was beaten.

The searing pain charged down my spine like a raging river and flooded into to my legs, locking them in place. It streaked down my arms and surged through my insides, threatening to tear me apart at any second. It circled my heart, _once, twice, three times, _but never passed through. My head was ablaze with white-hot agony that burned brighter than the flames of hell. For a moment, I was transfixed as I felt myself drown in a sea of electric torment.

And then everything went black.

I awoke with a start after what felt like _days _had sped past, neck aching and tongue on fire. The pain was mostly gone but my body jittered with a thousand tiny aftershocks. It was almost like I was having a constant epileptic seizure.

I heard Madara's voice, as clear as day, only moments later. "Five minutes, thirteen seconds seconds."

I looked over at him in bewilderment and realized he was holding a stopwatch.

"The quickest recovery I've ever seen. Perhaps I've underestimated you. Of course, it's not every day you deal with a reincarnated jinchūriki, but the results still stand." Madara murmured, scratching at his stubbly chin in a manner I could only assume was meant to be contemplative.

I sat up and rubbed my face. My tongue felt like it had been smeared with charcoal starter and set on fire.

"I'm... _not _a jinchūriki," I rasped.

Madara snorted. "Not _now_, but you once were. Given the state of your current body, why don't you just repeat the process?"

I blinked at him in surprise. I was about to ask him a question but then I decided to glare at him instead. It was significantly more satisfying.

"After we're done here, I don't want to even _hear_ the word 'jinchūriki' again." I said.

Obito offered me his hand. I didn't take it. There was _no way _I'd accept help from an imbecile like him, especially not after he'd spent Kami-knows-how-long pressing me up against the cave floor like a savage beast.

"Hn... Such a pity. You're going to waste your life away training, Hozuki, and _never _reach the caliber of shinobi you once were. Without Saiken, you're _nothing_." Madara spat.

"Then why do you keep bothering me?! If I'm nothing without Saiken, then let me be nothing in piece. I'll rise to the top and crush you all _without _his help, and then we'll see who's laughing, Uchiha." I growled back with equal ferocity.

Madara's lower lip quirked, curving upwards into a sinister smile. "You say that _now_, before you've experienced the shinobi world at its lowest. You're just a little girl and you don't know a damn thing. You think you do, but all you are is a scared brat."

I forced myself upright, straightening up to my full height. Instantly, I felt lightheaded but I wouldn't allow myself to show any weakness in front of Madara. I crossed my arms in an effort to appear intimidating. Madara was so much bigger than me that it hardly made any difference, but it made me feel a bit more confident.

"You don't know what I've been through," I hissed.

Madara looked as if he was about to slap me again, but Obito beat him to it. He reared back and punched me in the stomach so hard that I vomited a disgusting mixture of blood and stale water.

"_Don't ever say something like that in my presence **ever** again_," Obito hissed, low voice crackling in my eardrums like thunder, "_You don't know what living hell is like."_

And then he was gone. Obito had disappeared from sight like an extinguished flame, leaving only a bad omen and spilt blood behind him. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve, and settled for glaring daggers at Madara. I was too weakened to badmouth him just yet- a rarity Madara _should _have been appreciating. It wasn't very often that I was completely quiet.

But now I was.

Madara stood in silence beside me for several moments, keeping his arms folded across his chest in a defensive yet condescending manner. His face was impassive yet impossible to read, but sometime during the fray I realized he had released his Sharingan, leaving his eyes a strange off-black shade that looked more gray than anything else. The aura emanating from him was so positively _dangerous _that it was almost suffocating. I resisted the urge to cower as best as I could. I would _not _show weakness.

"I am disappointed in your conduct." Madara said.

And then he snapped his fingers. I collapsed onto the floor like a limp rag, unable to control my own body. My legs were useless.

Then I noticed that I wasn't breathing. My lungs were straining but my throat was closed off tight. I clawed at my neck, digging my fingernails into the tender skin I found there and unable to keep myself from panicking.

_I-can't-breathe!_

Madara's eyes turned blood red. "Let me explain this to you. I will not tolerate someone telling me what I can and cannot do. Especially when it's someone like you- an idiotic, arrogant little runt. A child so deprived of normal affections that she no longer has the capabilities to read a situation. Instead, you charge in, head-on, and get yourself _killed_. Isn't that a valid description for someone like you?"

I couldn't reply. All I could do was grab my neck and pray that this would end before I passed out.

"Would you like me to release you? Then apologize for speaking out of turn."

I glared at him. The edges of my vision were starting to turn black, signaling an on-coming blackout. I was running out of time.

"Don't pretend that you're playing the hero. Because you're not one. And if you think you can get out this by dying on me, then I'll show your parents everything, and show them what kind of wretched beast you really are." Madara pulled a single photograph from his cloak and held it out.

It was me, whispering in the ear of an Iwagakure official, who's biting smirk made me sick to my stomach. It was a photograph of something I had never done, but if Madara had it in his hands... It was either genjutsu or destroyed memories. Either option was despicable. Madara was a grown man and he was taking advantage of a little girl!

"Now apologize. Nicely."

My fading vision locked onto the photograph. Then, in my mind, I saw the faces of my parents. Their disappointed faces tore a hole in my gut, burning me in a way a fire jutsu never could. My parents had never expected much from me, but I knew they expected me to be loyal above-all-else. _I _expected myself to be loyal... But this, this was blatant betrayal.

I tried to say, "I'm sorry." Nothing came out.

Madara put his hand to his ear. "I can't hear you. What was that?"

The room was spinning around me. I mouthed, "I'm sorry."

He smiled. "Very well. Apology accepted." He relaxed his hand.

My throat opened and I sucked in deep lung-full of air.

"It's wonderful, isn't it? That first breath? After you've confessed to the error of your ways?" Madara sighed. "Don't make that mistake again. If I have to give you two fingers, then the mark on your tongue starts to burn. It's the same thing that happens if you try to attack me or you betray our secrets. Three fingers, and you will feel the same agony as when received the mark. So far, nobody's survived four fingers."

"Why?" I croaked, throat heavy with bile.

I wanted to ask, '_Why me? Isn't there someone else better suited for these tasks?' _but the combination of Madara's attempted asphyxiation and Obito's punch had left me too sore and tired to form an intelligible sentence. The seal itself only made matters worse.

Madara refused to meet my eyes and instead chose to glare at the floor, as if he was daring it to rise up and swallow me whole any second now. He didn't answer me, not even when I repeated my question. I wanted to kick him and hurt him just like he'd hurt me _so very badly _but I didn't dare. Madara- even in this feeble state- was still ten times stronger than any bony-seven-year-old girl, myself included.

Finally, he seemed to relent.

"Hozuki," He said, "If I am to overtake Kirigakure, I need to start from the foundation, correct?"

I nodded once, albeit a little slowly.

"In Kirigakure, the foundation is not the adults or the Mizukage but the _children_ themselves. They are the future generations of your land and your country's most important resource. Kirigakure doesn't make genin. Your country makes _child soldiers_. Isn't that why you're about to go to war? And what better way is there to slither in amongst their ranks than add one of my own to the mix?"

I stared at him, mouth agape. _That's insane!_

"What?" I whispered, scarcely able to believe what I was hearing.

"Still not clear, hm? Perhaps you aren't as intelligent as I thought you were. I'll only say one more thing- the rest you must discover on your own." Madara paused for a moment, as if he was contemplating the best way to phrase his next words.

"Yagura chose you for reasons even I am not completely aware of, but he did make one thing clear."

"And what's that?" I asked, finally regaining my voice.

"You are perceptive and unshakable. You are not afraid and you do not give up. Your mind will not fall to jello to accommodate my every whim like that of your peers. You are resistant to me and my practices. The only thing to do is make you a part of our side of this war."

"You shall be my eyes and my ears, Hozuki. You shall reshape your generation as I see fit. I can not be everywhere at once, so the job falls to you."

And then he, too, was gone, leaving me all alone in the dark.

* * *

><p>The cave walls were so thick that I couldn't hear anything on the other side and I had no idea how to break through them. The granite was solid and frigid beneath my fingertips, and when I took a deep breath to clear my head, I caught the slightest smidgen of the scent of lake water.<p>

I knew where I was.

Kirigakure had only one lake on the entire island, ponds notwithstanding. The Land of Water in itself was surrounded on all four sides by two enormous oceans, both of which _reeked _of salt and bad intentions. What I smelt was definitely liquid, but it lacked the overbearing salty tang that I was used to. The water smelt more like algae than anything else, and since the cave was made from granite...

I was in Boiling Rock.

Boiling Rock was the closest thing Kirigakure had to a natural hot spring, only this was one you never wanted to visit. Boiling Rock wasn't exactly a resort... But more or less an enormous death trap we used to keep out tourists from the North. The entire body of water that made up Boiling Rock and the area around it had once been inside a volcano during the lifetime of the Sage of Six Paths. During battle, the volcano had been destroyed, leaving nothing but a cesspool of boiling water and calcified minerals behind. My mother had a habit of dumping the corpses of her "opponents" here, where no one would ever find them, and I could only assume others did the same.

If the granite was cool and but the Spring was boiling hot, then I had to be _beneath _it. Cold air currents sank whereas the heated ones remained on top. If that logic followed through here, then I had to be somewhere below the surface of the lake.

_Now... how to get out?_

Without Madara and Obito- the Uchiha Lunatics, I'd decided to call them - I had no way of knowing how to escape. They had likely planned it that way. I didn't know what they wanted or why they thought they could get it from me, but there was no way I was sticking around to find out. I was perfectly happy with going home alone and going to bed, and then getting up tomorrow morning and going to school like I was _supposed _to. I'd had enough of this shit, that was for sure.

I could barely see anything in the darkened cave, which prompted me to seek out a source of light. There could have been a door less than a meter away and I wouldn't have been able to see it even if I wanted to. I dropped to my knees and felt around for a match despite the fact that I wouldn't know how to light one _if_ I managed to find one in the first place and flames were _incredibly _dangerous for someone like me. Eventually, my fist closed around a small, plastic box that reeked of smoke. I could only assume that these were matches.

I fumbled around for a few moments before I managed to open the box and successfully remove a match from its resting place. I struck the match against the cave wall just as I had seen Obito do, and a small flame crackled to life in my hands. I almost dropped the match in surprise but managed to restrain myself before I did. My parents had never allowed me to touch or handle fire, much less start one on my own, so this was an entirely new experience for me. My father was convinced I would evaporate and die if I came within so much as a two meter radius of an open flame, but my battle with the girl from before had debunked his ridiculous theory. I still didn't understand why he was so unnecessarily protective.

_What were they hiding? _

In the past week alone, I had battled with a Kaguya woman, been kidnapped by two insane Uchihas, signed a clam summoning contract and became the Mizukage's disciple, all in less than seven days. My family and the people around me had not allowed me to have so much as a moments rest before they put me through yet another task. After I completed each one, someone would tell me it had all been a test or a waste of time I shouldn't have bothered with. I couldn't understand _why _people continued to do this to me, but only that they did it regardless of what I wanted. I had no idea why Madara was after me or why he felt the need to seal me like some sort of jinchūriki. If he was after power, he should _not _have come to me. Mangetsu was the better choice, even if I was destined to surpass him one day. I was only seven and a runt. I couldn't do anything yet that he couldn't already.

_So what does Madara want?_

I hadn't the slightest idea. It looked more like he was playing a game with me than legitimately seeking something out. He had asked me to be his eyes and his ears in Kirigakure, but I _knew _he saw everything that went on in the village, regardless of whether he was there or not. If he was truly after something I possessed- and I couldn't imagine why he would be- Madara wouldn't have left me here alone. I could _easily _get out... That is, if I found the door.

And then I had an idea.

Without wasting another second, I bit through the flesh of my thumb and pressed my palm against the granite floor.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" I shouted.

My father had once told me that the more energy you through into a technique, the more powerful it became. I wasn't quite sure if I believed him, but this time it seemed to work. As soon as I finished naming the technique, a seal appeared beneath my palm. It spread across the floor like river water and then evaporated into smoke. A low, buzzing moan rattled my eardrums like an Earthquake, and I could only pray that I had used the jutsu accurately this time. I didn't exactly want to end up impaled upon a sea urchin's spike for the second time today. The first time had hardly been fun.

A clam appeared in front of me and cheerfully shouted, "Yo!"

I dropped my match and the flame was extinguished by the now-moistened floor. I swore and felt around for another match, glaring daggers at something only I could see.

The clam, which was _much _smaller than I expected it to be, chirped happily. I resisted the urge to pick the creature up and hurl it into a wall, but I knew that if I did that I would likely be stuck here for good. I had already injured one clam, and repeating the process probably wouldn't be the best idea.

"We need to get out of here," I told the clam.

The clam didn't respond, and I couldn't help but wonder if all the creature could say was "Yo!" I hoped not, because I had only just met the clam and I was already annoyed by its presence. I wasn't sure what sort of future was in store for the both of us, but it definitely looked bleak.

"'Kay," It replied, sounding disgustingly cheerful.

"Can't you... I don't know... _help?!_" I prompted.

The clam paused in its ministrations and seemed to actually be thinking about what to do. I gave it a few moments to gather its thoughts before repeating my question, this time in a less severe tone of voice. I had no idea how to deal with these sorts of situations, but I tried my best.

"Hmm..." The clam said, "I think we break rock, okay?"

I stared at it, amazed by its poor Japanese-speaking abilities. The clam was on the same mental tier as Suigetsu, who was a _four year old. _It was only then that I lost all my faith in my summon and resigned to simply _give up. _I'd had a very long day, and a good night's sleep would serve me well. I didn't have to leave. I could waste away here, in this same cave.

The clam wasn't having any of it.

"Cheer up!" It cried, mispronouncing its words in a cutesy, babyish way, "Mamoru will protect you!"

I could only assume the clam's name was 'Mamoru,' but I wasn't entirely sure. The way the creature spoke was confusing and childish, which left me more confused than comforted by its words. However, if his name was any indication of his skill level, Mamoru should have been a talented summon. His name literally meant "protector," and it was clear that he _had_ come here to protect me.

I trusted him.

"Alright," I said, humoring the creature, "Let's break the rocks."

I couldn't care less about Madara's reaction to me destroying his cave. He had practically _suffocated _me, and that alone was unforgivable. Anyone who thought they could use me like a tool and get away with it was sorely mistaken. I didn't take orders from anyone.

Mamorou hopped up and down in place, shell smacking against the granite floor. I couldn't help but wonder how he managed to generate the power to behave that way when he lacked both legs and eyes. Did he have some sort of special sensing power that gave him the ability to see and assess the situation?

Mamorou cheered and then shouted, "Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction!"

I didn't have time to register the creature's words before the jutsu activated.

The enormous, impenetrable granite cave began to crumble, breaking apart into thousands upon thousands of pieces, all of which came tumbling towards me. I screamed and hurled myself backwards, _just barely _managing to avoid being crushed by the falling boulders. More and more seemed to be heading my way, and they definitely weren't slowing down. Without my chakra, I couldn't leap as high as I normally could and, to top it all off, I was more sensitive to blows than I should have been. If even one of those boulders managed to land on top of me, I would be done for, no questions asked.

The largest boulder came rolling towards me. I would have dodged, but my path was blocked on all sides by the other falling boulders. Without my liquification, I was as good as dead.

The boulder rolled to a stop just centimeters away from the tips of my bare toes. My stomach clenched and I shook with pent-up nerves, but I was alive and it was _wonderful. _

"Mamorou stop the rock!" Mamorou cried triumphantly.

It was only then that I realized he _had. _Mamorou had activated some sort of genjutsu barrier that had managed to stop the boulder in its tracks. Dumbfounded, I gaped at him. I had assumed he was useless and annoying until just a few moments ago, and now he was saving my life?!

"Mamorou," I said, "This looks like the start of a _beautiful _relationship."

I didn't give him the chance to reply and instead dispelled the summon. I intended to call upon him again when I needed to, but he was no longer necessary. Mamorou wasn't exactly what I had expected, but he was at least of _some _use to me. There was no reason for me to expect anything less of him.

I clambered over the fallen boulders, both amazed and horrified by the wreckage I found there. The jutsu Mamorou had used was _truly _destructive. Without it, I probably wouldn't have escaped. I would very probably still be inside the cave, wasting away until Madara returned from who-knows-where... _if_ he came back at all.

I would be dead without him. It wasn't in my nature thank people or admit my faults, but just this once I had decided to own up to my mistakes. I couldn't protect myself just yet, and if I could, I would still be no match for Madara. I was so outclassed that it was almost _embarrassing. _I hated being the weakest link of any group, and when compared to the all-powerful Madara and Obito, I _definitely _was. I could only use about four jutsus, summoning included, and my taijutsu was subpar. Only when I was angry was I truly a force to be reckoned with, but even then I was still so far behind that it wasn't even _funny_. I scowled, cursing my weak genetics. If anything, I should be a powerhouse, not the weakest link! Both of my parents were incredibly strong shinobi, but I somehow missed out on inheriting either of their unique skill sets. Luck definitely hadn't been on my side when I was conceived.

I slipped out of the mouth of the now-destroyed cave and stalked past the boiling-hot lakes that gave Boiling Rock its name. I didn't dare touch the water, even if it would have been faster for me to simply swim across. I couldn't risk evaporation, and I certainly didn't want third degree burns, so that option was off the table. I'd have to walk all the way around the Boiling Rock and then climb down the mountain it was located on top of if I wanted to get home any time soon.

Scowling, I began my trip down the mountainside.

* * *

><p>I reached home just before nightfall. By then, my clothes were completed soaked with sweat and I had been relentlessly attacked by mosquitos, but at least I was <em>home<em>. I would never have thought that the front gates of the compound could be so comforting, especially when I had previously despised those very gates for keeping me locked away from the world I wanted so badly to experience. Now that I had seen what this world had to offer, I realized all the time I had spent pining for freedom had been wasted. This world was just as shitty as the one I had been living in my entire life, if not more so. This world, no matter where you looked, was darkened and rotting with evil. There was no good here, only suffering. I knew this now.

I saw my father before he saw me, much to my surprise. My father was an elite shinobi and he was supposed to be on-guard at all times... But he didn't see me, his very own daughter, traipsing up the hill? That in itself was suspicious, but I did nothing to challenge him. If anything, I could play this to my advantage. If my father didn't see me, he wouldn't find out about the ruined clothes or Madara himself. My father was dense that way. He believed in nothing until he saw it for himself, and this was something I would not allow him to see.

I hadn't had the chance to examine the seal or its properties just yet, but I suspected that if I even _mentioned _Madara, it would detonate like a bomb. I had no desire to experience the throat-crushing pain from earlier this morning a second time. My death had been mere moments away when Madara had activated the seal. He hadn't bothered to explain the rules, which only served to make me even more cautious than I already was. If I didn't know the rules, I couldn't find any loopholes or worm my way out of their grasp. I was forced to live in a constant state of fear, forever expecting to set it off.

Madara had done this on purpose.

I hissed under my breath. I was tempted to kick a whole through the wall of my home but I decided no to at the last minute. It would probably hurt, and my mother would somehow find out that it was my fault and kill me for it. Instead, I settled with climbing up the low-hanging willow tree that stood just outside of Suigetsu's bedroom window. I clambered across the branches and kicked his window in, knocking the glass pane to the floor with the edge of my bare heel. My sandals were still outside the Academy, and probably wouldn't be there tomorrow. Until I could replace them, I had to deal with bare feet.

Suigetsu gaped at me from the safety of his futon, cat-like violet eyes wide with surprise.

"Nee-chan!" He gasped, clapping his hands, "Nee-chan did a trick!"

I almost rolled my eyes, but decided against it. Suigetsu was the only person in this family that I could actually tolerate, albeit in small doses, and he had done nothing to deserve my anger. If anything, he was happy to see me.

"Yes," I whispered, "I did a trick."

I fell to my knees, collapsing on the floor from exhaustion. Suigetsu's eyes widened even farther, until their size was almost equal to that of a tea saucer, and he jumped from his place in bed and hopped over to my side.

"Nee-chan okay?" He whimpered.

I patted his cheek. My father had done this to me on multiple occasions for reasons I did not understand, and it seemed to be the right thing to do, because Suigetsu instantly stopped his blubbering and went silent. I sighed with relief.

"I'm just tired. I had a long day." I told him.

Suigetsu blinked, tilting his head to the side as if he was confused. Then, a slow, sinister smile spread across his small face. I could already tell that he was up to no good.

Predictably, Suigetsu rose from his position on the floor like a demon from the pits of hell and ran from the room so quickly that he was practically flying. I could hear his feet tapping along the floorboards in the hallway that lead from our bedrooms, which neighbored eachother, to Mangetsu's domain. I heard a loud, clanging crash and smelt smoke, but I had no idea what Suigetsu was doing or why. He seemed to have completely lost his mind.

"Whee~!" Suigetsu cried, sprinting back into the room with Mangetsu's sword, the Hiramekarei, in hand.

He waved it around like a trophy, hopping in place triumphantly.

I gaped at him. What on Earth was he doing?! Mangetsu didn't allow _anyone _to touch his sword!

"Here," Suigetsu said, holding the sword out to me, "Nee-chan had bad day. I make it better."

Mangetsu came crashing through the bamboo panelling like a raging bull before I had a chance to react. He snatched the sword from Suigetsu and kicked him over, sending him sprawling.

"Don't touch my sword, dumbass!" Mangetsu cried, cradling the Hiramekarei like a child.

He glared at me. "Chinatsu! You're not a child anymore, so stop messing around! Suigetsu didn't know what he was doing, but you don't have any excuse. You're seven. Act like it."

I snorted. "That's rich, especially coming from you. Who just kicked a four year old into the wall? It sure wasn't me."

Suigetsu wailed in response, flailing his arms.

"I-I just wanted to make Nee-chan happy!" He sobbed.

_Really? You'd... do that for me?_

Mangetsu dropped the Hiramekarei. It fell to the floor with a clatter, putting a _giant _dent in Suigetsu's wooden flooring, but Mangetsu was unpreturbed. Instead, he continued to stalk towards Suigetsu with chilling predatory grace. His footsteps made no sound at all, like a ghost's.

I jumped from my position on the floor and tore the sword from its resting place, sending splinters of wood flying. If Mangetsu _honestly _thought he could kill Suigetsu while I was around, he had another thing coming. I raised the sword, preparing to lop off Mangetsu's head. Suigetsu had only been playing. He had done nothing wrong. But this, _this __was unforgivable._

"Die." I hissed, swinging the sword with all of my might.

The expression on Mangetsu's face was priceless. It made me want to laugh out loud, seeing him like that. Mangetsu had always seemed so confident, so untouchable. He had always been ahead of me, always perfect. Mangetsu had been the child my parents had hoped for.

He had taken _everything _that was mine, and now I was going to make him pay. I knew I couldn't kill him with physical weapons alone. He and I were both Hozuki, both made of nothing but pure water. A simple strike from his own blade would not take his life unless I pulled at all the stops and used the strongest jutsu I knew. I had never used it before, but I knew how to execute the technique. I had seen Mangetsu pull this out countless times. When released, the Hiramekarei turned into an enormous chakra-fueled hammer that could crack through the strongest of materials. Even all-powerful jutsus like Susano'o couldn't withstand multiple swings from this weapon. It was arguably one of the most powerful weapons in the Seven Swordsmans' arsenal, and I was the one holding it in my hands. Not Mangetsu.

_Me._

"Hiramekarei Kaihō!" I screamed, "Release!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

_Finally, _a chapter with plot progression!

The full reason Madara is so interested in her won't be revealed for quite awhile... It's going to be pretty important in Shippuden, but at the moment it holds little relevance. I hope what little I could explain was helpful for you all, though. She has no secret Rinnegan or anything like that, so don't worry! ;)

Also: Yes, Chinatsu _does _curse a lot, but her mom does as well, only she does it almost every other breath. Chinatsu hasn't had the best rolemodel, so I hope you'll forgive her.

-MSM-

[I am now responding to reviews that could not be answered with PM:]

Mark: I agree... Unfortunately, do to recent manga events, most of it _is _Madara's fault. I'm capitalizing on that, honestly.

Nachosmachos: Ah, really? Thank you! I was considering having Utakata and Chojuro on her team because they would make a _fabulous _combination, but I'm not one hundred percent sure. If a lot of people like this idea, I'll probably end up doing it.

If you have any ideas for her team placement, do tell me in a review because I'm listening!


	16. Chapter Fifteen:

**Chapter Fifteen: The Betrayal**

"Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction."  
>― Criss Jami<p>

**. . .**

_Mangetsu dropped the Hiramekarei. It fell to the floor with a clatter, putting a giant dent in Suigetsu's wooden flooring, but Mangetsu was unpreturbed. Instead, he continued to stalk towards Suigetsu with chilling predatory grace. His footsteps made no sound at all, like a ghost's._

_I jumped from my position on the floor and tore the sword from its resting place, sending splinters of wood flying. If Mangetsu honestly thought he could kill Suigetsu while I was around, he had another thing coming. I raised the sword, preparing to lop off Mangetsu's head. Suigetsu had only been playing. He had done nothing wrong. But this, this was unforgivable._

_"Die." I hissed, swinging the sword with all of my might._

_The expression on Mangetsu's face was priceless. It made me want to laugh out loud, seeing him like that. Mangetsu had always seemed so confident, so untouchable. He had always been ahead of me, always perfect. Mangetsu had been the child my parents had hoped for._

_He had taken everything that was mine, and now I was going to make him pay. I knew I couldn't kill him with physical weapons alone. He and I were both Hozuki, both made of nothing but pure water. A simple strike from his own blade would not take his life unless I pulled at all the stops and used the strongest jutsu I knew. I had never used it before, but I knew how to execute the technique. I had seen Mangetsu pull this out countless times. When released, the Hiramekarei turned into an enormous chakra-fueled hammer that could crack through the strongest of materials. Even all-powerful jutsus like Susano'o couldn't withstand multiple swings from this weapon. It was arguably one of the most powerful weapons in the Seven Swordsmans' arsenal, and I was the one holding it in my hands. Not Mangetsu._

_Me._

_"Hiramekarei Kaihō!" I screamed, "Release!"_

* * *

><p>The bandages that kept the dark, glinting metal of the Hiramekarei out of sight unraveled, dissolving into nothingness to reveal the blade hidden beneath them. Malicious blue chakra surged from the newly-exposed blade, pouring from it like an overflowing volcano. The chakra manifested itself into an <em>enormous <em>hammer-like shape that was easily larger than Mangetsu's entire body- and my own. The chakra, I realized, must have been extracted from those who had dared to go up against this blade. There was no way it had come from me. I was far too drained of chakra to produce anything this... _magnificent._

The chakra swirled violently around the Hiramekarei like an angry, vicious storm. I forced myself to resist the urge to cower in its wake like so many had before me and instead gripped the sword with as much confidence as I could muster. I had no idea how long this technique would last, and I was to take Mangetsu's head, it had to be done quickly.

I ran at him at top speed, swinging the sword towards Mangetsu's skull with every ounce of strength I possessed. I could not fail. I could not back out. The killing would be done, and I would take Mangetsu's place as the wielder of the Hiramekarei. That was the rule. Anyone who managed to take the head of the blade's current owner was given the right to carry to sword. I had it in my hands. Now all I had to do was slice right through him.

The Hiramekarei would be mine.

"Chinatsu!" Mangetsu shouted, as if trying to talk his way out of his imminent demise, "You can't just use that sword-!"

"I know," I told him, "To use this sword, you have to take it."

I smiled, grin spreading across my narrow face like spilt blood. "And it's already in my hands."

I watched the color drain from Mangetsu's face like blood dripped from a corpse, flushed skin going whiter and whiter with every second that blurred past. Mangetsu's violet eyes had darkened and turned glassy, wide with fear and despair. Mangetsu knew that without his sword, he was mine. I would win.

He had no chance.

Mangetsu leapt from his position on the floor, leaving a shell-shocked Suigetsu behind. Suigetsu's eyes widened with fear when he saw me and he cowered, curling up into the corner. I scowled, repulsed by his cowardice but too preoccupied by Mangetsu to put much thought into it. Mangetsu had already activated his Hiding in the Mist jutsu, which left me at a disadvantage. If I didn't find him soon, not only would the release jutsu run out but so would my chakra. I could feel the blade eating away at my reserves even now, sapping what little energy I had left. It was doing everything it could to sustain this high-powered form for as long as possible.

Mangetsu didn't deserve to wield a blade like this. Only someone like me deserved to wield this blade, someone so ruthless and strong that I couldn't be defeated. And there was no way in hell I was going to give it up without a fight.

I charged blindly forward, tearing through the mist like an angry demon. The Hiramekarei was truly a godly sword, crafted of only the finest materials and bathed in the healthiest of all chakra. It could cut through almost anything, even Mangetsu's mist. With this blade, I was unbeatable.

My father materialized beside me a fraction of a second later. He attempted to grab the sword but I swung at him instead, planning to absorb his chakra to feed the blade. He dodged my swing with ease but hissed with the Hiramekarei's chakra scorched his flesh. While he was distracted, I managed to slice him in half. It wouldn't do much, but it was enough to incapacitate my father for a few moments while I chased after Mangetsu. We were in a small room, and he had nowhere to go. I would catch him soon enough.

He would die here and _now_, by my own hand. I would not allow him to escape.

Mangetsu made the mistake of showing himself only moments later. He barely had time to duck out of the way of my swing, shouting as he did so.

"Chinatsu!" He shouted, "Be reasonable! I'm your older brother, aren't I?"

_No. You're not. You're not even my brother! You're just a cousin who got too full of himself. You let your guard down, Mangetsu, and now you have to pay the price._

"No," I said, "You're nothing more than _garbage _to me."

I swung at him with all my might, throwing every ounce of chakra and willpower I had into one final swing. As soon as I arced the blade, it grew too heavy for me to bare and I was forced to release it, praying for it to strike Mangetsu like it should have in the first place. To my great pleasure, the sword connected, slicing through Mangetsu's flesh like a knife through butter. I heard tendons shred and bones crack, tearing apart and dissolving into oblivion like they had never been there in the first place.

And then Mangetsu fell to the ground, torso completely halved and eyes blank.

_Dead._

I cheered, hopping in place and screaming "yes!" at the top of my lungs. I had _finally _done it. I had killed him. And now everything I wanted was suddenly within my grasp. With Mangetsu's blade- my blade now- I could do anything and everything I had ever dreamed of doing. I was now a member of the Seven Swordsmen and Mangetsu's _permanent _replacement. I was undoubtedly the youngest to join and the youngest to take the sword of an elite. Technically speaking, I now qualified as ANBU level or higher. Surely that had to be some kind of record!

I was so distracted by my fantasies of fame and glory that I didn't so much as bat an eyelash when the real Mangetsu came racing out of the shadows and lunged at me. I shrieked, finally sensing his presence, but by then it was already too late. Mangetsu tackled me before I could react, slamming me into the floorboards and forcing the wind to leave my lungs. I screamed, kicking and flailing like a madwoman in his arms.

_But... how? Was it a shadow clone?!_

"Release me, peasant!" I screeched, kneeing him in the face and attempting to claw at his exposed forearms. It did little good, but I was _loud_. That in itself was enough to make Mangetsu squirm.

Mangetsu cursed and covered his ears with both hands, which sent me flying. I hit the ground hard and scraped my chin against the splintered floorboards, which felt significantly worse than it sounded. I sat up and spat out a bloodied tooth, which clattered to the floor as softly as rain against a tin roof. Then, I shakily rose to my feet and bared my teeth, just _daring _Mangetsu to come at me for a second time- this time, he'd better fight like a man. If he didn't, I'd kill him- and even if he _did_, I'd still kill him. I might have fallen for his shadow clone trick before but next time he wouldn't be so lucky. Mangetsu was a one trick pony. I knew that especially well. Without his weapon and his plan revealed, he didn't stand a chance.

_Game. Set. Match. _I mused. To me, our battle was no more complicated than a game of shōgi. Mangetsu wasn't one for complicated strategies or battle tactics. He was oddly up-front with everything he did. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say he was _over_confident in himself. Only an imbecile would blindly charge ahead like he just had, only bothering to employ an insultingly basic strategy against someone as strategically-talented as me. Unlike Mangetsu, I saw through everything. He might have caught me once, but that didn't mean I would allow him to catch me again.

This game was mine.

I grasped the hilt of the Hiramekarei and tore it from the wood paneling for the second time today. Suigetsu's floor was beginning to show signs of damage, splintering down the middle and threatening to give way at any second. I could tell just by looking at it that would difficult to repair. I knew my mother would kill me for making such a mess, but I didn't dwell on it. Instead, I planned out my next move and prepared for Mangetsu to strike.

I knew that Mangetsu carried a large quantity of kunai and senbon with him at all times, as sort of a last resort. He rarely used them, and from what I had seen, his accuracy was only sub-par. Without his weapon, Mangetsu was nothing. All I had to was avoid the kunai and I would come out on top.

_Easy._

How very wrong I was. While I hadn't been paying attention, Mangetsu had managed to set an extraordinary number of trip wires up throughout the room. Dozens- if not _hundreds- _of kunai were hidden in the shadows, just waiting for me to spring the trap and send them my way. If I squinted, I could see several exploding notes strung along the bottoms of quite a few of the kunai, prepared to detonate at the drop of a hat... Or, in this case, the springing of a wire.

"Nice try," I said, calmly overstepping an obviously-placed wire, "But you won't catch me."

Mangetsu smirked.

The exploding notes detonated less than a second later, engulfing the entirety of Suigetsu's bedroom in black, hellish flames. Suigetsu screamed, covering his face with his chubby arms, and I ran towards him as quickly as I could. Little children didn't understand the concept of fire. They thought that if they hid from it, it would go away. That was not the case. Fire always remains, no matter how hard you tried to extinguish it. It would just keep coming back, like a moth to a flame- no pun intended. If I left Suigetsu here, he would undoubtedly evaporate and perish. Mangetsu- the spineless coward - was long gone, having escaped out of Suigetsu's open window, so the responsibility of protecting Suigetsu fell to me.

_Just like everything else in this whole damn village._

Without wasting another moment, I pulled Suigetsu up off of the floor, lithe arms straining beneath his weight, and ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction. With Suigetsu on my back and the Hiramekarei on my hip, my gait was awkward and slow, my footsteps weighed down by forces I wasn't used to dealing with. I wouldn't make it very far, especially in my state, if I didn't leave something behind. My grip on the Hiramekarei tightened until my knuckles turned white and fingers shook with tired tremors.

"Suigetsu, you better be grateful for this," I whispered.

I dropped the sword. It fell from my sweat-soaked palms and clattered to the floor, chakra carving an _enormous _hole into Suigetsu's already-damaged floorboards. Beneath us, the floorboards began to crack and shatter, crumbling and collapsing into nothing beneath my bare feet. I jumped, body lighter than it had previously been, and just narrowly missed a piece of falling debris as I crashed through the open doorway and collapsed in the hall. My heart hammered in my chest like a tin drum and my throat contracted painfully with every breath I took. Suigetsu's small hands fisted the fabric of my shirt. holding tight and preparing for the worst.

The scent of smoke and molten metal was slipping through the cracks in the floorboards and traveling upwards, choking us both and sending a stream of paralyzing shivers down my spine. The floor was going to give way, I _knew _it was. It had already collapsed in Suigetsu's bedroom, and the rest of the hallway would likely follow. It was clear that the worst had already happened downstairs, and now Mangetsu's blasted flames were going to burn our home to the ground, all over a sword he didn't even deserve to wield!

Without so much as forming a coherent thought, I jumped, leaping completely over the stairs, and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I had no idea where I was going or what I was going to do when I got there- I just _ran_. It was all I could do to keep myself from panicking and prayed that the flames wouldn't overtake me. In a fire, I was about as useful as a piece of tinder. If I spent enough time beneath the baking flames, I would evaporate and die, no questions asked.

I couldn't die just yet- not without achieving my goals and crushing Mangetsu or before I could pay my respects to Yagura. I had so much to do and so little time to do it that I couldn't afford to rest and I definitely couldn't die. I refused to give up. I had weakened earlier, and I had paid the ultimate price because of it. I couldn't allow myself to show such... _weakness _a second time.

I would not allow myself to be used and then tossed aside like a broken toy. This world was mine for the taking, and I'd be damned if I didn't take advantage of it. Mangetsu and the rest of them could go to hell for all I cared- as long as **_I_** lived. I refused to die, and as long as I had the will to survive, I didn't doubt that I could. Now, all I had to do was save myself from the flames of black death.

I had no idea how or why Mangetsu had been able to create them. They were remarkably similar to Madara's famed Amaterasu flames but they clearly hadn't been created by a dōjutsu. Mangetsu was laughably terrible with genjutsu of any kind, that I was positive of. I had seen him fight and even _I _was better at genjutsu than he was. If it had truly been him who had executed the technique, it had to have been something ninjutsu-based. But where would he have gotten it from? Mangetsu wasn't intelligent enough to create something so mind-numbingly destructive, much less use it!

And then it clicked.

It was foolish to assume Madara was behind each and every little wrong-doing in Kirigakure. No one- not even a god- could have orchestrated all of that. Some of this chaos had to have been self-created. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen had always been loose canons, bound to nothing and fighting for their own selfish reasons. They didn't fight for Kirigakure out of necessity- no, they fought for _practicality_. There was no other village in the shinobi world that would tolerate their blood lust and criminal antics. They were here because it was _easy_, not because they wanted to be.

And now they were trying to destroy us. Because Madara had made Yagura his puppet, they feared for their lives and their ways. They didn't care about us- Mangetsu sure didn't. When he had fought with me, he was attempting to kill two birds with one stone. Eliminating me would shut down some of Madara's more extreme plans and killing the Hozuki clan would be detrimental to Kirigakure's power levels. Without us, this village would be nothing more than a pile of blood-stained garbage. The remaining people would easily be over taken by vengeful blood-line users and eliminated.

And that was why they had sent Mangetsu. They were willing to keep him alive- after all, he could wield all seven of their beloved swords. If he needed to, Mangetsu could replace them all. He was almost... indispensable. And he was probably the only one in their entire group that could execute such a powerful ninjutsu. This entire time, they'd had an inside man slithering in amongst our people and stealing our secrets away for their own gain. Mangetsu was a traitor, but he was a damn powerful one. I didn't know if I would _ever_ be able to defeat him, especially not like this.

One by one, they were killing us off. They were wearing down our defenses and destroying our impenetrable fortresses, all in the name of greed, power, and bloodlust. I shouldn't have expected any less. We _were_, after all, in Kirigakure, the bloodiest village to have ever existed within the bounds of space time. Here, the average human life was only worth what our employers were willing to pay us to eliminate them- and sometimes, nothing at all. Here, only the victors were allowed to survive.

_I will be one of those victors._

Behind us, our home exploded in the flames and ash clouded the sky, robbing us both of what little beauty our world still held. I smelt burning flesh and heard distant, echoing screams, but I could do nothing to help my family. Instead, I watched them all die.

Suigetsu sobbed as I gazed into the flames, wondering for _just a moment_ if I should have gone down down with them.

"Mother," I croaked, "Help me."

The flames did not speak, and, for once, neither did my mother.

* * *

><p>Yagura came at daybreak, when the sky was alive with groggy fire and bathed in an orange, glowing hue. Ash had rained from the sky all night long, like falling stars, and it had only just begun to taper of when Yagura came clambering up the hill with the speed of an elderly man's corpse, back hunched and his skin stained grey with lack of life. He dropped to his knees, sliding into a low crouch, and managed to slip between the boulder that I had used to seal the cave Suigetsu and I were currently hiding in and the cave well. Yagura, I realized, was almost paper thin, like a living skeleton.<p>

"I heard about what happened," Yagura murmured, "And I came to tell you that it wasn't your fault."

"How did you find me?" was all I offered in response, feeling oddly numb.

Yagura's eyes softened, looking out of place on his gaunt and greying face. "Isobu told me you'd be here."

"And no one saw you come, correct? That's good," I muttered, scratching a pattern into dirt scattered across the cave floor.

The last thing I wanted was to reveal my position. It was clear that I would be missing today's Academy lesson, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I had unintentionally uncovered what was likely Kirigakure's most deep-rooted secret, and I knew that I would no longer be safe within the boundaries of my own homeland. I hadn't been in the first place, but now I could no longer delude myself into believing otherwise. My false sense of security had been completely shattered by yesterday's events. I didn't even know if my parents were alive any more, and that was a truly terrifying idea all on its own. My parents were two of the strongest people I knew... There was no way they were dead!

_Right?_

"You seem to be doing... _well_," Yagura said, brushing off the front of his apron-like sash as he repositioned himself against the cave wall.

I blinked at him. "I guess."

Beside me, Suigetsu was just waking up from his nap. It had taken well over four hours for me to convince him to just lay down, let alone sleep, and he was clearly still exhausted. Sleeping on the cave floor was uncomfortable but there was little I could do about it.

"Nee-chan," Suigetsu whined, still half-asleep, "I'm hungry."

Yagura's eyebrows rose. "So there's another? And you managed to save him?"

I nodded slowly whilst simultaneously reaching into my pouch pocket, and drew out a small package of freeze-dried beef jerky. I'd already tried and it found it _disgusting _but it was all I had. Venturing outside wouldn't be the safest choice for Suigetsu and I, so he'd have to make due with what little we had. My own stomach was painfully empty, and earlier this morning I had tasted blood at the back of my throat, but Suigetsu clearly needed it more than I did.

Besides, if I _didn't _give it to him, he probably wouldn't shut up about it for the rest of the day- or maybe even longer than that.

"Ew, gross," Suigetsu said, sniffing at the package before hurling it in the direction the cave wall, much like he did with many of his toys during tantrums.

I glared at him.

"Behave!" I hissed, reaching over and smacking him on the thigh.

Suigetsu hissed at me and I let my hand drop from his thigh, only slightly terrified for my life. Yagura eyed the both of us warily, anxiously wringing his hands as if he expected us to start a full-on battle over something as trivial as Suigetsu's normal amount of irritation sarcasm.

"Listen, Chinatsu," Yagura began, awkwardly rubbing the heals of his palms against the fabric of his top, "I don't think it will be safe for you to return to the Academy."

My mouth dropped open. "Are you saying I can _never _become a shinobi?!"

Suigetsu gasped exaggeratedly, placing both of his chubby fists on either side of his face. "_No!_ Say it's not so!"

I briefly contemplated stabbing him, but Yagura interrupted me before I could form any concrete plans.

"No," Yagura murmured, sounding conflicted, "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" I implored, scooting towards him in an effort to get a better look at his eyes. That way, I could tell if he was lying to me or if he was simply making things up as he went along. From what I had seen, both were probable options.

As soon as I so much as moved a centimeter in his direction, Yagura began to shy away from me, pressing his rail-thin spine against the cave wall like a cornered animal.

"You're a danger to the other children," He whispered, tilting his chin to avoid my searching eyes.

I raised a brow. "_Seriously? _I'm a danger?! Did you not hear about the teacher who taught us summoning ninjutsu on the _first day_? What about him?"

Yagura snorted. "That's different. I _asked _him to do that. If I didn't throw out the most complex jutsus on the first day, a lot of the parents would take their children elsewhere- perhaps even outside the village. Our village must be the absolute strongest, correct? Therefor we need as many men as possible."

"Then why did you order for all those with bloodlines to be eliminated? That was at least half of our force as a village!" I cried, completely confused by Yagura's lack of logic.

Yagura's eyes hardened, pink irides boring into my skin like molten lava. "They got in my way."

I swallowed, shivers racing down my spine. "And I don't?"

"You do... But you have at least _some _virtues that I cannot ignore."

His eyes traveled down the length of my form, taking in my ragged, soot-stained clothing and bruise-littered skin. Yagura's lips curled with distaste, as if he smelt something terrible.

"Don't you have anything else to wear?"

I shook my head. "Our home was destroyed... Or at least I _think _it was. This is all I've got."

Yagura rose to his feet, almost cracking his skull against the cave's low ceiling. "I'll bring you something else to wear. I can't stand to look at you when you're dressed in such a distasteful manner. Does he need anything?"

Yagura gestured to Suigetsu with a flick of his bony wrist. Suigetsu, now half asleep, blinked in surprise.

"Me?" He squawked.

I rolled my eyes. "_Yes, you. _Who else is here?"

Suigetsu giggled. "Nobody."

My skin prickled. Something wasn't right.

"Suigetsu," I repeated, "_Who else is here_?"

"Nobody 'cept you and that guy," Suigetsu chirped, hopping to his feet and twittering like a baby bird.

_What guy?!_

Yagura cleared his throat. "I do believe he means me, Chinatsu. No need to worry. Now, does he need anything or not?"

I shook my head, body still twitching with hypersensitive nerves. "Not really. Food would be nice, but I might be able to sneak out and get some later."

Yagura glared at me. "**No.** Don't leave this cave. It isn't safe!"

"But-!" I tried to interject.

Yagura pressed a finger to his lips. "No arguments. Just be quiet and wait for me, alright? I'll explain everything later, but I don't have the time right now. Go play with Suigetsu or something."

I snorted. "Who do you think I am? A baby? I'm a shinobi. I don't _play_."

"Hozuki, you're _seven years old_. Not twenty-one. You're still a child. Act like it."

My mouth dropped open. "Are you telling me to take things _less _seriously? What the hell?!"

Suigetsu giggled, covering his mouth with his chubby fists. "Mister," He said, "You're gonna die if you don't stop talking."

I expected Yagura to rear back and slap me, much like my mother would have for displacing this degree of insolence. I expected him to scream at me until he was red in the face and choking back hoarse shouts, so full of rage that he could no longer hide it.

But he did not.

Instead, he _laughed. _Yagura of the Bloody Mist, Mizukage and Baby Killer was _laughing. _And it was hardly an ordinary laugh. Yagura's laugh was loud and throaty, and it rang through my ears like the finest of sound genjutsus. It almost _hurt_, I realized, hearing him laugh like that.

"Oh, foolish child. You say that as if she could kill _me_."

I saw red.

"Who's to say I can't?!" I screamed, already reaching for a kunai.

Yagura pulled his staff from its holster and effortlessly blocked me, sending me sprawling to the floor. I gasped, lungs forcibly emptied, and attempted to kick him but I couldn't quite see straight.

"I said _stay_."

And then he was gone.

* * *

><p>Beside me, Suigetsu snored, head tilted sideways and his small face serene. He had fallen asleep for what felt like third time today yet he somehow managed to continue to look <em>so <em>tired that it wasn't even funny. He had fallen asleep only moments after Yagura left, leaving me with plenty of time to right myself. The morning's events clung to my flesh like weighted lead, settling in my stomach and filling me with dread. My mind was swimming with unaswered questions and a new-found sense of pure and utter _loathing _for Mangetsu. I didn't quite know how to react, honestly. Growing up, I had always viewed Mangetsu as the "golden child"- which he was. Mangetsu was heir to our clan, leaving me third in line to inherit the role of clan head, and he had always lived up to each and every one of my parent's expectations. Mangetsu had been the good boy, the _light_, while I had fulfilled the role of the chaotic evil, dark-eyed with bloodlust and thirsty for power. Now, it seemed that our roles were reversed.

And I hadn't even seen it coming. Or perhaps I had, but I had somehow convinced myself that what I was seeing was wrong. I couldn't be quite sure. All I knew was that my instincts were flawed. Ordinarily, I could _easily _identify liars and separate them from those who were telling the truth. My mother had taught me to look for the signs in the body language and expressions, and to dig beneath their exteriors until I had revealed the truth. It had not been a difficult concept for me to grasp. But Mangetsu? Mangetsu was an entirely different story. He seemed so open and genuine in everything he did. I would never have pegged him for a liar or a traitor. He was the golden boy, and golden boys do not lie.

But he had. Mangetsu had lied and cheated his way to the top, completely ruining any chances I'd ever had at becoming something other than the dark side of our equation. And now I was going to make him pay.

Yagura slipped inside the cave's narrow opening as quickly and as silently as a shadow falling across the room, his suffocating presence jarring me from my thoughts of crimson revenge. In his arms, he held a small bundle of cloth and lines. As he neared me, I sat up, eyeing him warily, my senses on red-alert. The scent of Isobu's chakra had always set me on edge, and today it seemed particularly pungent. I had been far too distracted earlier to pay it much mind, but now that my head was clear, the scent of Isobu's chakra had become wholly apparent.

I nudged Suigetsu with the edge of my foot. "Wake up!"

Suigetsu rolled over and swatted at me with his hand, as if he was dismissing my presence. Fuming, I rose to my feet and tackled him, forcing the wind from his lungs and forcibly jarring him from sleep. Beside us, Yagura sniggered while Suigetsu cried and called me a myriad of words a child his age shouldn't have been aware of. I pulled him from the floor and sat him up, offering Suigetsu no response. I'd been called worse, so his insults hardly phased me.

"Mean!" Suigetsu shrieked, kicking me as hard as he could, "Mean!"

"I said _get up_." I hissed in a perfect impersonation of Yagura, tone harsher than my facial expression.

Suigetsu crossed his arms and looked away, lower lip jutted out into a perfect pout.

"Anywho," Yagura said, sounding forcibly cheerful, "I brought you some clothes, vagrant children."

I wrinkled my nose but reluctantly held out my hands, expecting him to hand me the bundle and head back the way he'd come. I'd had enough social interaction to last me for the rest of the week- maybe even the month- and I wasn't too keen on having to pretend that I was interested in whatever Yagura deemed worth his attention. I would have shooed him away but I suspected he'd kill me if I tried.

Yagura tossed the bundle my way and I caught it with one hand.

"The clothes on top _should _fit the boy, but I won't make any promises. The clothes on the bottom are for you, Hozuki. They're some of my old ones, but I can promise you that they'll look a thousand times better than the rags you're wearing. Honestly, it's disgraceful." Yagura lamented, sounding as if he was disgusted by the very _thought _of my appearance. _  
><em>

"_Thanks_," I muttered sarcastically. I couldn't care less about how I looked. What I really wanted was food and the promise of my parent's safety, but I couldn't exactly _ask _Yagura for the latter. I'd have to wait it out.

"You're welcome," Yagura hummed, seemingly unaware of the sarcasm my words had reflected.

I ignored him and began unwrapping the bundle. Yagura had wound the pile of fabric into a giant, multi-colored knot and I was having difficulties untangling it. After a few moments of struggling, I managed to unravel the knot, revealing a mess of miss-matched clothing and a pair of boots that were almost exactly like Yagura's own, only this time they were black in color.

"Suigetsu," I murmured, "Do you think this'll fit?"

I held up a small, forest-green tank top that looked about Suigetsu's size. In response, he nodded and accepted the top, discarding his soot-stained tee shirt for something a bit cleaner. His charcoal colored shorts were relatively clean so I left them as is, intending to keep the pair Yagura had given us for emergencies.

"Fits," Suigetsu said, sounding triumphant, "I take bath soon?"

I shook my head. "Maybe later. It's not safe now."

Suigetsu pouted but offered no argument, leaving me to sort through the other supplies Yagura had given us. My fingers shook with a combination of dehydration and lack of sleep, and when I pulled the boots from the pile, I almost fell over at the sudden influx of weight against my form. Yagura snorted, clearly unimpressed.

"Well," He prodded, "Do they look like they'll fit you?"

I examined the boots in my hands and nodded once before dusting off the pad of my foot and deftly slipping them on. They fit almost perfectly, but they seemed to be a bit big on the sides, much to my disappointment. My father had always said that shinobi footwear had to be sized _perfectly _for it to be of any use.

Yagura, noticing my disappointment, raised a brow. "What's wrong?"

"They seem to be a bit big in the calves. My feet fit inside them fine, though." I explained, preparing to remove the boot and hand it back to him.

"Oh," Yagura said with a smirk, "Is that all?"

He reached out towards me and grasped my ankle with one hand. Using the other, Yagura released a stream of chakra into my calve. The burning, tingly feeling caused by the sudden influx of foreign chakra raced up my thigh and seemed to settle in the base of my stomach like a lead ball. Surprisingly enough, the sides of the boot began to shrink until it fit me like a second skin would have. He did the same with the other boot, the one I hadn't tried on just yet.

I gaped at him. "How-?"

Yagura offered me a small, devilish grin in response. "Those boots used to be my own, and I had them custom-made to change in size and fit when they absorbed chakra. I grew very quickly when I was your age."

Instead of expressing my amazement or gratitude, I simply said, "Why'd you stop?"

Yagura glared at me and slapped my wrist. "Watch your mouth, young lady."

_Lady? _I snorted. I _hardly _counted as a lady. Even my mother said so. I had no interest in the trivial, shallow pursuits that they seemed to enjoy, and I couldn't care less about my appearance. Did Yagura think my social status was something he could hold over me, like a bargaining chip? If he did, he was sorely mistaken.

I didn't offer a response to Yagura's foolish chastisement. Instead, I slipped on the other boot, thus completing the set, and stood up. They were heavier on my feet than standard shinobi sandals and heavily secured in the ankles to keep me from turning my ankle when on the run. The heels were open in the back to allow for air circulation but my toes were hidden from sight, something that I had previously never experienced. Quizzically, I examined my hidden feet.

"Do these do anything besides eat chakra?" I asked.

Yagura sent a mischievous grin my way. "Well... now that you _mention _it... Check the pockets."

It took me a moment to find the pockets Yagura had spoken of. They were well hidden and looked completely smooth from the outside, but when I pulled on them enough, they separated slightly from the boot's fabric and revealed what looked like two empty compartments on either outward side of my calves. Nestled within the pockets were two thin, sheathed daggers that glittered as brightly as freshly-shined silver when I pulled them from their scabbards. The blades were almost paper thin and so reflective I could see every cut, bruise and stain on my skin when I gazed into them, both revealing a different half of my face. In the corner, situated at the very base of the blade, they were marked with the Kirigakure symbol.

"Espionage daggers, issued to Kirigakure ANBU during the Founding Era of our village. You can hide them, or you can keep them in plain sight. Either way, they'll get the job done." Yagura murmured, expression sanguine.

I raised a brow, preparing to object. I already had a weapon, a naginata blade almost twice my height in length and _built _for decapitation. I didn't need his delicate daggers! But I stopped. My blade had been in the floorboards when Mangetsu had released the jutsu in the next room, setting fire to the building and crumpling its very foundation. My weapon had likely been incinerated. I clenched my fists, body shaking with rage.

"_I'll kill him!_" I hissed, eyes darkened with scornful, vicious hatred. Mangetsu had done more than rob me of my weapon. He'd cost me my clan and my honor, and my right to wield a blade. He had stolen _everything. _

And I would make him pay.

I looked up into Yagura's cold, empty face and nodded twice in acknowledgement. My mind urged me forward, begging me to draw the blades and slit Yagura's pale, unprotected throat for even _daring _to look at me with such revolting contempt. I almost did it, too, but I stopped when I remembered the cold emptiness I had felt when Madara had lifted me from the shattered remains of my earth-bound hiding place and whisked me away to what I had assumed was certain doom. When I had believed Yagura was dead, the world had been nothing but a black smear of wretchedness. Yagura was the one who had acknowledged me. Killing him would hardly be fair.

And Yagura was not Mangetsu. Killing him would not satisfy me. It would not parch my desire to see and feel and _hear _Mangetsu's anguished final moments of life as I put a blade through his head. Killing Yagura would send our village into a deeper state of chaos, and if I was ever to become the Mizukage I couldn't allow that to happen.

I sheathed the blades. "Thank you."

Yagura smiled, but I could tell that he knew what I had been thinking. I could see it in his eyes.

Neither of us said a word after that.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

This was so late and terrible, I'm sorry! My life has been so hectic lately I can barely get anything done, even when I want to. I actually want to start writing other stories (bad me!) and I'm contemplating the idea of a High School AU featuring Chinatsu as the main character, but I know I need to work on this one before I latch onto anything else.

Sorry for the poor fight scene! These really aren't my strong suit. Any advice would be _much _appreciated, because I seriously need to work on them. This is a story about shinobi!

Also, I can't wait until Suigetsu ages so I can finally start writing him in character. I tried to make him behave like the little shit he is, but he's _four _so it's a bit difficult.

**ATTENTION: I WILL BE GONE FOR APPROXIMATELY TWO WEEKS ON A SCHOOL-RELATED EVENT. I WILL DO MY BEST TO UPDATE, BUT I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT I HAVE ABANDONED THIS STORY. THANK YOU.**

-MSM-


	17. Chapter Sixteen:

**Chapter Sixteen: The Kyūbi **

"The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly."

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

* * *

><p>I deftly removed my blades from their scabbards, flicking them back and forth between my fingertips as quickly as I could in an effort to better familiarize myself with them. They were lighter than what I was used to carrying and had a smaller turning radius. They were meant for up-close attacks whereas my naginata had been built for long range. They were completely different weapons, and now I was going to have to adapt because of it. I knew that I would need to work of my agility and speed first and foremost, and my strength as well. Stamina had become secondary.<p>

I would not rest until these knives were no longer mere weapons, but rather extensions of my consciousness that I could wield at will. My father had always said that a sword should be like a third arm, completely one with the rest of your body and moving in synch with your thoughts. This was every swordsman's goal, and it was one that I was yet to achieve.

I took my fighting stance, the one I had carefully copied from Mangetsu, and practiced a series of smooth, pivoting uppercut slashes until I could no longer see straight. I was exhausted. I had _been _exhausted, but now I was only making things worse. Sheathing my blades, I plopped onto the ground and rolled over onto my back, praying for rain to somehow pour from above and fill the cavern with nothing but deliciously cold water. I was _so _thirsty. Giggling, Suigetsu rose from his place in the corner and toddled over to me, bouncing excitedly. Our previous skirmish had clearly been forgotten.

"Nee-chan~!" He singsonged, "Make the tiny man bring me _food_. And no yucky stuff in a package, 'kay? I want people food, not fishie food!"

Suigetsu shook the long-since retrieved beef jerky package for emphasis, looking thoroughly offended by the product's mere existence.

I rolled my eyes and glared at the ceiling, having no plans to move from my place on the floor. "_Fine. _I'll see what I can do."

"Yay!" Suigetsu cheered and threw the package onto the floor before stomping on it aggressively, grinning the entire time. I almost laughed out loud- it seemed the two of us were more similar than I had expected. In a similar situation, I supposed I would have done the same thing.

Groaning, I rose from my place on the floor and stomped over to Yagura, who seemed to be preoccupied with examining the contents of a folder he had pulled from places unknown. He didn't look up when I reached him. Instead, he turned the page and continued to gnaw on his lower lip, as if he was bored by what was going on around him.

"Yagura," I hissed, keeping my voice as quiet as I possibly could, "Go get something Suigetsu will eat!"

Yagura's brows rose and he looked up from his paperwork. "I thought you didn't like that boy. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I don't like him, but if I don't get him something soon, he'll spend the rest of the night whining and complaining. I can't deal with that."

Yagura turned another page without sparing a single glance in my direction. "That sounds like a _you _problem, not a _me _problem."

"But you said I couldn't leave the cave!" I cried, chest heaving with effort as I struggled to hold back my rage.

"Did I? Hm... Well, I suppose it can't be helped then. What does he want?" Yagura said, finally seeming to give in to my whims.

I turned away from him and proceeded to amble over to Suigetsu, who was scratching at the cave floor with a stick and playing with several large rocks.

"He said he'll get you something. What do you want?" I asked, fully expecting him to beg for candy or something else equally as useless and unhealthy. Suigetsu had a bit of a sweet tooth and he loved candy more than his own mother. Surely, I'd have to correct him.

"Um... Can I have yakisoba? Mama only lets me have it during Matsuri!"

I blinked in surprise at the bizarrity of his request. Traditionally, yakisoba was only eaten during festivals or religious events. It wasn't exactly something that would be easy to procure, especially in this village, and I doubted Yagura had the patience to actually make it himself. I was just about to demand that Suigetsu to ask for something else- _anything else_- but his pouty, tear-streaked face made me pause. It was only then that I realized how alone Suigetsu must have been feeling. His parents- as far as I knew, anyway- had been brutally murdered by his older brother, the "golden boy" turned traitor, and he was left with me, a seven year old who couldn't properly care for him. Suigetsu wasn't like me, a cold and unfeeling shell of a human being, hollowed out and emptied of all desire for human contact. Suigetsu was just a child, and he had no idea how to come to terms with the deaths of his loved ones. He had killed so easily before... But this, this was different. This time, it was personal.

"I'll see what I can do," I said, repeating my earlier promise.

Suigetsu brightened, and he wrapped one of his tiny arms around my waist before squeezing me as tightly as he could manage. "Thank you!"

I shuddered and nearly pushed him away from me, but I knew that if I did that again, he'd _definitely _cry. I didn't have the time nor the patience to tend to a crying baby, so I chose the lesser of the two evils and patted him on the head before forcing my way out of his grip and padding over to Yagura.

"He wants-" I began, preparing to negotiate some sort of deal with Yagura.

"I heard," Yagura interjected, looking mildly amused. "But how could I obtain such a dish during this time of year? It's impossible."

I swallowed, throat burning. "I'll make it."

I had only made yakisoba once before, when my mother was so drunk that she had grown delirious with a combination of cravings and rage. She had demanded that I supply her with only the finest of yakisoba and I had been forced to accommodate her unless I desired to face punishment. I had scoured the clan archives for hours on end until I had located our minuscule stash of recipes before rushing into the kitchen and hurriedly throwing the dish together. I had presented it to my mother, prideful and excited to see her reaction, and she had promptly fallen asleep at the table. I had no idea if I was a good cook or not, and I wasn't sure anything I made would be even somewhat palatable.

But it would get us both out of this cave, that much I was sure of. Once I was within Yagura's domain, I could easily force him to reveal the secrets involving my future as a shinobi. I knew he wouldn't be able to refuse me when he had nowhere to run. _And then, I would finally win._

Yagura snorted. "_You? _You'll make the yakisoba? I'd love to see you try."_  
><em>

I set my jaw, eyes glinting like freshly polished steel. "Damn right I will. Now show me to the kitchen."

Suigetsu cheered.

* * *

><p>Yagura and I both knew it wouldn't be safe for us to simply waltz outside in broad daylight. Anyone with long range ninjutsu could shoot us down before we even managed to locate them, making it almost impossible for us to safely leave the cave in broad daylight. Instead, we waited for nightfall before making our move.<p>

The sun had long since disappeared behind the craggy mountains that hid the Boiling Rock and Madara's lair as seamlessly as the sky itself, leaving the village swathed in darkness and bathed in the golden light that seemed to almost flow from the torches aglow in town hall. If I squinted, I could just make out the silhouettes of passing shinobi. I didn't recognize any of the figures, but it was easy to figure out who would be dangerous enough to cause trouble and who wasn't. Their body language told me everything I needed to know. Those with power had long, lengthy strides and squared shoulders. Power radiated from their chakra with every step they took, sending thousands of minute warning signals my way. The weaker shinobi were typically slower and more hunched over, as if they were constantly bent to protect their cores from damage. Their chakra carried no scent, but only seemed to flicker in and out of my range of sensory, like a flickering flame. Soon enough, I could no longer detect their scents.

I turned to Yagura and signaled for him to send Suigetsu my way. I was crouched at the very edge of the cave mouth, cloaked by the shadows and surveying our surroundings within the safety of Yagura's Silent Killing ninjutsu. When I rose to my feet, I made no sound. It was as if I was a mere ghost, just barely floating above my surroundings but never actually coming into contact with them.

Suigetsu tiptoed towards me, taking great care to remain silent. When he reached me, he wrapped his arms around my neck and buried his face in my long, tangled hair, leaving my with just enough room to secure him in place before we departed. He was far to slow and loud to be allowed to move freely, and I doubted he could keep up with us if Yagura and I were forced to run. Suigetsu would be safest with me.

Yagura threw his cloak over us as he passed by, never once meeting my eyes. He was clearly distracted, but his face revealed little beneficial information. Yagura continued to look left, as if he was worried someone would come crashing through the cave walls at any second. Upon seeing his face, I knew that Suigetsu and I probably wouldn't be allowed to return to this place on our own. I leant down, struggling to keep Suigetsu from toppling over, and collected the few possessions we had amassed within our short stay here. I shoved the clothes Yagura had given me into several of his multitude of cloak pockets and made sure that Suigetsu's old shirt wasn't forgotten. Even if he was never going to wear it again, it still held traces of his chakra the could be used to track us down. I couldn't leave anything behind, not even my own scent.

I readjusted Yagura's cloak, making sure it sufficiently covered us both, and made sure Suigetsu was in as comfortable of a position as possible. I didn't have the patience to stomach his whining any longer than I had to.

"Ready?" I signed, using the complex series hand movements my father had taught me solely for missions like this one to convey my thoughts.

Yagura nodded, as if he understood, and then pushed the boulder out of the entryway as easily as one would bat away a child's fist. My stomach clenched with worry and I felt bile burning at the back of my throat. I _still _didn't know the full extent of Yagura's powers, but it was clear that his strength was almost incomprehensible. And to think that he had been so easily overpowered by Madara...There was no telling what would happen if I stepped outside this cave, but I knew I couldn't hide here forever. I had been here less than twenty-four hours and my legs had already begun to ache from lack of activity, and my back was cramped from being stooped over within the tiny cavern. The longer I had hidden there, the weaker I would undoubtedly become.

I couldn't allow that to happen.

I set my jaw, just like I had only moments before, and stepped into the moonlight. I took a deep breath, searching for the tell-tale aroma of unfamiliar chakra, but found nothing but mere traces of various chakra signatures spread out in the woods around me. If I closed my eyes and concentrated, I realized that I could see almost a _map _of chakra natures and their corresponding scents spread out around me. A long, snake-like path swathed in an orange glow stretched from the very edge of the forrest to the village and then seemed to lose its pungency, therefor ending its own trail. Yagura's trail was enormous and almost suffocating, stained in a blood-red glow that almost blotted out the others around us. My own was blue and faint, and stretched from the cave to the very edge of the woods, where my home had once been- over five kilometers away.

I opened my eyes and turned, pointing in the direction of the muddle of chakra signatures- the village center. I knew Yagura lived near there, but if I wanted to enter his home I was going to have to snuff out all the torchlights in town hall, thus leaving the area around us completely dark. It was only in darkness that the three of us could be safe.

Wordlessly, Yagura passed me an ink-black exploding note before moving on ahead, intent on erecting a sound-proof barrier that would cover the cave and the surrounding area, thus eliminating the chance of someone overhearing or witnessing the explosion that would ensue only seconds later. I flicked the tag into the air and pushed it backwards using a gust of my chakra before plastering it to the cave wall with a glob of my saliva. I then used the last of my chakra to ignite the tag, sending sprays of fire and molten rock through the air as the cave combusted behind me and exploded into flames as tall as mountains. The heat they generated stung my cheeks and the scent of sulfur that emanated from the destroyed cave made my eyes water, but I smirked in spite of it all, pleased with the way things had worked out. Even as mighty as it was, the explosion hadn't made a single sound. Yagura's jutsu was truly a marvelous thing.

Thoroughly satisfied, I turned to Yagura and nodded twice before signing "Let's go" with my free hand.

Yagura smirked in response, clearly having understood the message, before signaling for me to follow after him with a flick of his wrist and disappearing into the undergrowth like a wayward spirit racing home.

Without thinking, I forced a spiel of chakra into the balls of my feat and leapt through the air at blinding speeds I hadn't known I possessed. The world around me blurred and spun so quickly that I began to feel sick to my stomach. Suigetsu and I suddenly lurched forward, and a terrible, stinging pain raced up my thigh from the base of my foot. I almost collapsed from the very feeling of a pain so terrible that it rendered me useless, but I managed to keep myself from completely passing out. Instead, I crashed into the foliage and came to a stop just before the base of a torchlight. I would have undoubtedly cracked my head open if I had stopped even a millisecond later, but I had managed to land with my skull intact. Suigetsu choked me in surprise, tiny fists showcasing _massive _strength as he latched onto my collarbones and almost snapped me in half. Beneath Suigetsu's barely-detectable weight, I struggled to regulate my breathing as I attempted to figure out exactly what I had done.

Yagura came sprinting up behind us moments later, looking thoroughly bewildered.

"What the hell was that?!" He hissed in a whisper so venomous that it made my skin crawl. I could tell that he was trying to keep his voice as low as possible to avoid arising any suspicion, but his tone betrayed his true intentions.

"I don't know," I gasped, "I don't know."

Suigetsu's head knocked into mine from behind as he forced his way out of the opening at the top of Yagura's cloak to get a better look at our surroundings.

"Huh?! How'd we get here so fast?" He asked, sounding just as confused as I was. "Nee-chan made the whole world spin."

He didn't bother to keep quiet or lower his voice, but I suppose that the damage had already been done. My flashy entrance had undoubtedly sparked some undesirable attention, and there was little I could do to throw them off now. If anything, Suigetsu's casual and matter-of-fact tone made this whole situation seem far more ordinary than it probably was. Little children were truly a force to be reckoned with in regards to espionage.

I pushed myself up off of the ground, feeling absolutely _famished_. I hadn't eaten in quite awhile, but the feeling of hunger seemed to have suddenly hit me full force, like a chakra-filled strike to the gut.

"Ugh," I groaned, clutching my stomach, "How'd I even fall over?"

"Nee-chan hit a rock!" Suigetsu said, pointing to a large rock formation a good eight meters away, "And the mean rock hurted your foot."

Surprisingly enough, he was right. The explosion of pain in my left foot, which had faded after only a few moments, had been from colliding with the rock formation and basically flipping over it until I came to a stop on the ground. I couldn't have hurt myself so badly on _just _the bare earth. Iwas hardly clumsy enough to injure myself so badly when sprinting across dry land. There had to have been outside elements involved.

Yagura snorted and kicked up a cloud of dust. It looked almost like he was throwing a tantrum, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and ignore it _just this once_. He was the Mizukage of one of the smallest yet the most powerful villages in all of our world and Yagura was supposed to be only the best of the best. He was strong, that much I knew, but his attitude was... strange, to say the least. When I had first met him, he was the closest thing to the devil's incarnate and I had hated him even more than I despised my own mother. The second time I had seen him, he had hurled me into a wall and broken my spine before draining me of every last drop of chakra that I possessed and left without another word. And the third time... Well, the third time had been an entirely different story. I had seen him for only a moment before I had been forced to run as far away from Madara as I possibly could, and I had been convinced that he was dead for the longest time. I had felt almost melancholic then, like the all the light had been stolen from this world. But now? Now I wasn't quite sure what to think.

Yagura's glare was so cold that it tore me from my tangled thoughts, leaving me anxious yet focused on the task at hand.

"Are you absolutely certain," Yagura whispered, "That you don't know what that was?"

I shook my head. "I've never gone that fast before."

_Has anyone ever gone that fast before? _I wondered. My chakra reserves had been almost _completely _drained for the past week and I couldn't exactly attribute my sudden burst of speed to rapid chakra replenishment either. I'd always had slow recovery time, regardless of whether or not it involved chakra depletion or physical injuries. In short, I had no idea what was going on.

"When we arrive, you will execute a jutsu for me. I have a theory I need to test." Yagura said, sounding unfocused yet alert at the same time. Had my sudden burst of speed shocked him so thoroughly that he now feared for his own life?

I quirked a brow but said nothing. Instead, I reached behind my head and shoved Suigetsu beneath the upper hemline of Yagura's cloak, thus hiding him from the prying eyes of passerby. He protested and scratched at my back, but his fingernails were too dull to do much damage. If I had wanted to, I could have scratched him back, but I didn't want to risk staining Yagura's cloak with Suigetsu's blood. Yagura would kill me if I did, that much I was certain of.

Yagura marched ahead, staff drawn and eyes alert, and I followed after him, feeling suddenly exhausted. Suigetsu's weight was suddenly far too much for me to bear. Earlier, he had been almost unnoticeably light, but now it felt like he was crushing me despite the fact that he was almost half my size and equally as light. What was going on?

I didn't have time to ask Yagura for an explanation, and I doubted he would have given me any useful information anyway. His behavior had become erratic in the past few minutes, and it was beginning to make me anxious. Yagura kept freezing in place and looking over his shoulder, but his eyes did not stop on my form. They seemed to roam elsewhere, as if he expected someone to be following us. At first, I dismissed it as standard precautionary behavior, but after seeing Yagura repeat the action a good eight times in less than two minutes was beginning to make me feel sick to my stomach. I was _so _tired. There was no way I'd be able to fend off any attackers if they suddenly ambushed us. I couldn't rely on Yagura, that much I knew for sure. Madara had pushed him out of the way so easily, as if Yagura was no more than a doll. But he wasn't a doll. He was the _Mizukage_, ruler of the animalistic and blood-thirsty people that made up our village, and he was supposed to be seen as the supreme combination of both maturity and rationality.

In Kirigakure, very few of us actually bothered with anything outside of bloodshed and thievery. Crimes were rampant here and _everyone _stole from everyone else. As a child, I could remember seeing people attempting to break through our unique barrier ninjutsu seal in the dead of night, but as far as I knew none had been successful. My mother used to laugh at them when she saw them, and then she'd spear them with the tip of her yari blade, thus ending their pathetic lives, and send me to their homes under the rigid instructions to steal everything valuable or meaningful that I could get my hands on. I'd done as she'd asked, being a mere child and unable to think for myself, and it wasn't long until I figured out that everyone else was doing the same thing. You had to be careful about what you said and did her, no matter where you were, because as soon as you showed _any _weakness, a pack of hunters would suddenly be right on top of you, cutting you down. We were animals here, and Yagura was supposed to be the mediator.

He was doing a piss-poor job.

"When are we gonna get there?" Suigetsu groaned, squeezing my neck to further illustrate how fed-up he was. "This is a teensy island and we're already in town!"

I could hardly contain my bewilderment. Suigetsu, a _four year old_, understood our village's geography?! That was almost impossible. As far as I knew, Suigetsu couldn't read and he wasn't allowed outside the family compound, so how did he obtain this information? Was it a lucky guess or did someone tell him?

Silently, I crouched down and drew my blades, keeping them both in my left hand in case someone were to attempt to strike us down. The prickly feeling I had felt earlier was yet to fade, and it seemed to grow stronger with every second that bled past. I felt like I was being watched yet I could not pinpoint the location of the eyes that seemed to follow me wherever I went, and it set me on edge. I couldn't relax until I had a weapon in my hands... Or better yet, my hand through their heart.

"We'll be there in about... five seconds," Yagura muttered, speaking more to himself than Suigetsu and I.

Wordlessly, I trailed after him, taking care not to trip over any more rocks. I couldn't believe I had been so clumsy, but I didn't have time to dwell on it or complain about logical fallacy. It was dangerous being out in the open like this, and I wanted it to be over with as quickly as possible.

Yagura paused in stride in front of the Mizukage's office, which took the form of a large, cylindrical building with foliage stemming from its roof. The front of the building posted an enormous, marble-slated kanji that signified the word _Mizukage _and served as a landmark for the entire village. It was a rather obvious hiding place, but worlds better than the dingy cave I had spent the better part of the morning in. I just hoped Madara- or whoever might have been after us- wouldn't be able to find us there.

"Here we are."

Yagura managed to force the iron-gated front door open with one swift push and stepped to the side to allow me to enter. I stepped blindly forward, resisting the urge to flail my arms at the sudden lack of light. Behind us, Yagura slammed the door shut and struck what sounded like a match against the wall. A small, barely visible flame appeared on the tip of his index finger, which he in turn used to light a series of wall-bound torches. They exploded to life like bombs preparing to detonate and filled the darkened room with the scents of smoke and sea salt. I realized that Yagura must have dipped his kindling into the sea before leaving it out to dry quite some time ago. The scent was oddly... comforting but did little to aid me in my efforts to take a good look at my surroundings. The room we were within was so utterly _massive _that the numerous torch lights barely illuminated any of it. It was more than a little worrying to be boxed in like that when I couldn't see what was going on around me.

"Welcome," Yagura purred, "To my humble abode."

I rolled my eyes, taking full advantage of the fact that Yagura couldn't see me or my facial expressions. "Looks more like an empty room."

Somehow, Yagura managed to locate my wrist and seemingly took great joy in raking his fingernails across my tender flesh until he drew blood. "Watch yourself, girl."

"I have a name," I said, "Learn to use it. And stop calling me Hozuki. It's confusing for Suigetsu!"

Yagura chuckled. "Give the child more credit. He knows when I'm speaking to him. And besides, I call him _boy _during our conversations. I do not like using given names when addressing my subordinates. It's too personal."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I'm not your _subordinate_, alright? Just because I agreed to be your successor does _not _mean that I'm willing to bow down to you."

Yagura's laughter filled the room for what was very probably the third time that day. "Oh, _my._ How adorable! You say that as if you have a _choice_."

My eyes widened with shock when I detected the change in Yagura's tone of voice and there was little I could do except gape in surprise as I watched Yagura's stiff body tilt forward and then rapidly raise itself back up like a shackled prisoner awaiting beheading. At the sight of his change in posture, my blood ran cold and I didn't have to look up to know that Yagura's eyes had turned as cold and venomous as that of a hungry viper's. Madara was back, and it seemed that this time he wasn't planning on leaving.

"Thanks for cleaning up, by the way. It's always _so _bothersome to destroy our old lairs." Madara cooed, this time in a tone so teasing that it made me want to wring his neck.

_Do not patronize me, Uchiha._

"Where are you?" I hissed through gritted teeth. If he couldn't speak to me in person, he was probably farther away than I had expected- perhaps even on the other side of the island.

"I'm in a lovely little village called Konoha, and I'm about to burn it to the ground. They won't dare oppose me once they have faced the wrath of the Kyūbi." Madara said, sounding far too cheerful for his own good.

My stomach clenched and my throat threatened to close up almost completely, but I didn't allow myself to show any weakness. Madara could take away my family, my bloodline and my village but he could _not _take away my pride. I would **never** bow to him.

"You're going to release the Nine Tails?" I whispered. My wobbly tone of voice was barely able to mask my confusion and worry, but I prayed that it was enough to fool Madara.

The Kyūbi was a horrible, _wretched _creature that fed on the misfortune of others and bathed in the blood of the innocent. Supposedly, the creature was fearsome enough to be able to hold its own against the Sage of Six Paths, and the village legends insisted that it had waged war against its brethren for one thousand generations before it was eventually slain and sealed into a fearsome Uzumaki woman. Now, the creature lived in hellish servitude, bound to its jailer like a child to its mother. The Kyūbi's hosts were all monstrous people- or at least that's what I had heard, anyway. They were evil, plain and simple. The seal that kept the Kyūbi in chains was loose enough to allow the creature ample room to corrupt its host's mind and body but was _just _strong enough to keep them from escaping entirely. If Madara intended to let the creature loose, he was going to be playing a _very _dangerous game of Russian Roulette. Even _I _wouldn't have dared to meddle with the likes of such a dangerous beast.

Was Madara insane?!

"But of course. I'll make them pay for what they did to me." He replied in a tone so casual that it made it seem like we were discussing the weather or our evening plans rather than Madara's newest attempt at world domination.

I didn't dare ask Madara to elaborate- largely out of fear of eliciting a three hour monologue from the normally sarcastic elderly man. My mind was swimming with questions but I couldn't bring myself to open my mouth and simply _ask _for the answers. Instead, I quietly stood beside him, silently wishing for better night vision and struggling to keep Suigetsu up-right beneath the cloak. My back was aching and stretched taught, like a bungee cord about to snap, but I couldn't put Suigetsu down until Yagura managed to take control over his body again. With Madara controlling him, there was a high likelihood that I'd end up having to dodge a few fireballs and I couldn't exactly do that with a floppy four-year-old clinging to my side.

Instead, I directed my best scowl in his direction and asked the question I had been waiting to hear the answer to all day. "Do you know where my parents are?"

Madara's brow wrinkled with annoyance. "_Heavens __no_. When you Hozukis actually apply yourselves, you're damn near unstoppable. Your relatives have pulled tricks like this before and they've survived just fine, so you have no reason to worry. They'll pop up soon enough I'm sure."

I wrinkled my nose at that. Neither of my parents- or any of my family members, honestly- had been particularly intelligent or crafty. If anything, they had been below average in both areas. I was the exception, not the norm. Surely Madara was aware of that! Hozuki could live through almost anything, but fire was one thing I doubted we could survive. My clan's outcome looked especially grim, but I felt no remorse for them. Now that they were gone, I was dangerously close to obtaining the title of clan head.

_Too easy..._

"Besides," He continued, "Don't you want to hear about the details of my genius plan?"

"No thanks," I said flatly, brushing a strand of my soot-stained hair out of my eyes. "I don't really care as long as it doesn't effect me. Can you get out of Yagura's body now, old man? You're boring me."

Madara had the gall to look affronted by my statement, but for some reason he didn't lash out at me like I had expected him to. If nothing else, it seemed that his siege on Konohagakure had greatly improved his attitude. I smirked as I wondered just how far I could push him until he snapped, making eye contact with him the entire time. Ever since Madara had exposed himself, the fear his Sharigan had once lorded over me seemed to have lost its potency. I had seemingly spent the majority of my lifespan under a genjutsu and I _knew _that for some ungodly reason, Madara found me useful. I couldn't quite bring myself to appreciate the swirling red irides as I once had. Now, they were just _eyes_ to me. No longer were they the terrifying weapons of mass destruction everyone hailed them as. They were just two eyes placed within the skull of an elderly man who _should _have been dead by now.

The entire event sounded frivolous and contrived, even to me, but I couldn't exactly _ignore _it. It might have just been happenstance that I had been the one who was chosen by both Madara and Yagura to represent them as their "eyes and ears," but I'd be an idiot to believe that there wasn't any _real _reasoning behind it. I had been alive long enough to know that _nothing _in this horrible, gruesome world happened "by chance". Everything happened for a reason.

Figuring out the reason, however, was an entirely different matter.

"Are you sure?" Madara prodded me with the tip of his finger, seeming oddly jovial. "It's _genius_, believe me."

I caught him in a deadpan stare before flicking a piece of soot off my shoulder and in his direction. "You're speaking to a genius right now... And, well, I'm not impressed."

"That's because you haven't heard it!" He insisted.

And it was then that I knew something wasn't quite right. The Madara I had known had been significantly more serious than the one I was currently dealing with and he wouldn't have hesitated to backhand me across the face for addressing him in the manner I was. This Madara, however, seemed _far _too jovial and elated by my presence to do much damage. Clearly, I was dealing with an impostor._  
><em>

"No," I replied cooly, "I'm not impressed and I _won't_ be impressed. You're not Madara. You're Obito, the snot-nosed brat who crushed three of my ribs. Don't lie to me, Uchiha filth."

Madara- or Obito, that is- almost choked on his own tongue.

"What?!" He gasped. "How did you-?"_  
><em>

I almost laughed out loud. "It was _too _obvious, honestly. You don't behave like he would, you don't sound nor speak like him and... And your Sharingan only have three tomoe. Madara has the Mangekyō. They may not be very prominent when you take this form, but I can still see their reflection in Yagura's pupils. Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Obito gaped at me, further adding to the shame Yagura had been put through as the temporary- albeit unwilling- host of Obito's wayward spirit. I wanted to slit his throat for shaming my Mizukage so greatly but I feared that if I did, Yagura would be the one to pay the price. Even someone as dreadful as him didn't deserve to suffer like he had been. Madara and Obito had taken things too far, and it was about time for me to extract my revenge.

"But..." Obito stammered, looking panicked. "You're _seven_. There's no way that you could have deduced all of that on your own! Did Yagura tell you something he shouldn't have?!"

I sighed softly and pressed a hand to my forehead, massaging my temples tiredly. It had been a long day- an _extraordinarily _long day- and I really didn't have the patience to deal with the annoyingly childish Uchiha. I already had one baby clinging to me like a bad infection and I certainly didn't want another one.

"I'm far smarter than you'd like to believe," I told him, kicking a chunk of what I believed was coal that I'd found on the floor in his direction. "That's why the chose me. Why'd they choose you? Comedic relief?"

I honestly hadn't expected him to look quite so _insulted _by my statement. It was almost saddening, really, seeing Yagura's face wrinkle with emotion in such an undignified manner, but I _knew _that it wasn't really Yagura who was crying. It was the Uchiha boy who had sat on top of me and crushed my form until there was nothing left but a pile of mangled bones and a web of torn flesh being held together by a single, ink-splattered seal. He was half the reason I was in this position and I felt no sympathy for a creature as disgraceful as Uchiha Obito.

Then again, I never felt sympathy for anyone.

"I just wanted someone... to love me." Obito whimpered, wiping at his eyes and blowing his nose into Yagura's sleeve.

My nose wrinkled with revulsion. "_Love_? Don't make me laugh! What are you, a baby? Love isn't even real- just ask my mother! Someone made it all up. It's just a fairy tale parents tell their children so they won't cry themselves to sleep a night."

My eyes hardened. "My parents were hardly so kind."

Obito's expression became pained. "...What happened to you, Chinatsu? What did you have to go through to become this way?"

I lock eyes with him, staring straight into his Sharingan eyes without a single shred of fear.

"It's simple, really," I drawled. "I was born in Kirigakure during the Era of Yagura. That is enough to have made me this way. You see, I'm not like other children. I don't believe in happy endings because they do not exist. This world is _rotten_ and there's nothing either of us can do about it. Grow up, Uchiha. You're not a child anymore, so stop acting like one. Real shinobi do not cry."

Obito's face turned redder than freshly spilled blood.

"You don't know anything!" He screamed. "You don't know anything about what I've been through!"

I expected him to lunge at me and attempt to rip my throat out, but I realized that he was far too soft minded to do such a thing when he collapsed onto the ground in a fit of shock and terror, screaming all the while.

"I'm in hell!" He sobbed, "Rin!"

_Rin_? I almost laughed out loud. All this whining and crying had been caused by one little girl? Since Obito was supposed to be _so _intimidating and heartless, I had expected him to present a much better motive for his actions- if he presented one at all, that is. Some people (like myself) were just _angry _and I found that perfectly acceptable. But to base all of this off of the death of one useless girl? How utterly ridiculous!

"You're right, I don't." I said as I leant over Obito, smirking widely and struggling to resist the urge to make a snide remark in regards to the fact that the tables had indeed turned my way. "But you don't know anything about me, either. We're on equal ground for once, Uchiha."

"And underestimating me will be your death." I whispered, lunging towards him with my blades dawn. I grazed his neck ever so slightly with the tip of one of my blades, taking my sweet time carving a path down the length of Yagura's milky-white throat. His blood blossomed from the long, narrow wound I had created in a manner not unlike that of a flower coming to life beneath the warmth of the sun. I ran a finger through it, admiring it's slick texture and the way it stained my skin like warpaint, a sure sign of my victory in battle. The wound wouldn't kill him- that much I knew- because I had made sure to avoid grazing any arteries or irreversibly harming any blood vessels. It was a clean cut, like a surgeon's slice, and it served as more of a reminder than anything else. Obito was weaker than I was and if he dared to trifle with me, I could easily end his life. He may have been able to overtake me once, but I'd be damned if I allowed him to do the same thing twice. _  
><em>

"This," I said, stabbing the knife into Obito's thigh with all of my strength, "is the difference between you and I. You hesitate whereas I go in for the kill. I do not hold back and I do not fear the consequences of my actions. _You do_. And you are weak because of it."

I tore the knife free, marveling at the way Yagura's flesh part and rippled beneath my palms as I did so. This would very probably be the only time I'd be able to attack him so easily, without the stigmas of remorse or fear. When Yagura was in this state, I had all the power. If I hadn't been so kind, I probably would have killed him by now. But I couldn't allow myself to do that just yet- not without Yagura teaching me his most powerful jutsus. It would all be a waste if I just killed him now, even if I _would _earn the title of Mizukage by default. It was better for me to wait until I had learned each and everyone of his weaknesses, jutsus and habits before striking him down like a thief in the night.

It would be only then that I could collect my winnings.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I hardly feel any pain in this form," Obito hissed, attempting to force his way out of my grip.

_I'm well aware. But you can't move too well either, can you? Pathetic._

"I assumed as much. I am not fighting to kill you just yet, Uchiha. I am making a point. Do not disrespect me again or you will pay with your life." I flicked the knife in my hand for emphasis, splattering tiny droplets of Yagura's blood all over Obito and the surrounding area.

I then sheathed my blades, no longer feeling threatened by the teenager's presence. Given how easy it had been to knock him down, I doubted it would be particularly hard to take him down using my bare hands. Obito talked a big game but he couldn't back up his words. He was weak in this form, weaker than I had ever expected. It would be almost too easy.

And I do love a challenge.

* * *

><p>Obito abandoned Yagura's form before I had the chance to do any real damage, but it seemed to take Yagura much longer to return to his body than it had for Obito to enter it. It was a vicious double standard, all things considered. The Uchiha duo were <em>clearly <em>doing everything in their power to make things harder for Yagura to control, and I can't say that it didn't work.

By the time Yagura returned to his physical form, I had already released Suigetsu from his hiding place, leaving the two of us to wander aimlessly around Yagura's ridiculously large foyer in an attempt to locate Yagura's kitchenette. After several minutes of bumping into walls and knocking over what was probably _extremely _expensive furniture, Suigetsu managed to trip over a book lying on the floor and completely tore through Yagura's paper-thin bamboo wall panelling before falling down a small set of moss-covered, suspiciously moist stairs that undoubtedly led to the kitchen we had been seeking. I found Suigetsu several minutes later after sensing a strange change in the intensity of the scent of his chakra and deciding to follow the trail he had left behind. He had been unconscious at the foot of the stairs and I had _accidentally _stepped on his face and managed to wake him up in the process.

"Ow!" Suigetsu had shrieked, kicking me as hard as he could. "That's my face you're steppin' on!"

"Oops," I muttered sarcastically, "Didn't see you there."

Suigetsu stuck his tongue out at me and rolled over onto his stomach before climbing to his feet and popping his back. He looked a little tense but I knew his body would soon take care of his injuries, thus rendering any help I could have offered useless. Suigetsu was lucky that way. If I had been in his position, I probably would have been nursing bruises for weeks.

_Yagura... You better hurry up and help me fix my jutsu, _I thought, a scowl marring the delicate sharpness of my soot-stained face.

I chased after Suigetsu, who had taken to cartwheeling across Yagura's tile floor, intent on keeping him from destroying anything _too _irreplaceable. I could blame the earlier incidents with Yagura's furniture on the general lack of light upstairs, but the torches downstairs were far too bright for me to be able to pull that excuse off here. Yagura might have been easy too fool but he wasn't _that _stupid.

"Nee-chan~! Look what I found!" Suigetsu chirped, shaking a package of what appeared to be candy as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, seemingly completely healed.

I took the package from him with some disdain, fully expecting it to be a package of ancient, waterlogged taffy or something equally as disgusting and unhealthy. However, when I peeled back the packaging I discovered that what Suigetsu had found was a package of honey milk candies, the kind only sold during Matsuri or in high-end tea shops. To find such a thing here, in this village of all places, was far from normal. You wouldn't be hard-pressed to leftover eyeballs with the irides intact in a place like this, where we tossed bloodline limits and battle-based advantages around as carelessly as one would toss a ball, but finding something a simple as candy or toys was practically unheard of. It didn't make any sense for someone like Yagura to have these items, even if it was just one package.

"What's it say?" Suigetsu asked, standing on his tiptoes and trying to peer over my shoulder.

"They're honey milk flavored," I explained, taking a corner of the package in each hand and tearing it apart with all of my strength. Predictably, candy flew everywhere but Suigetsu hardly seemed bothered. He chased after the rolling treats with enough vigor to make me mourn for my own childhood, the latter of which had already been shattered and set aflame. Unlike me, Suigetsu did not comprehend anything outside of light and dark- or good and evil, that is. In his mind, there was no grey area, only empty comprehension. Suigetsu was happy to overlook the smallest of details in favor of his personal happiness whilst I depended on the scraps of information normally forgotten to pull of my plans. We were opposites, he and I, but I was the teensiest bit glad I hadn't let him die. Suigetsu would prove to be useless one day, that I was sure of, and useful tools cannot be left behind.

Unless they were broken, that is.

"I caught one!" Suigetsu screeched, boisterous tone tearing me away from the sanctity of my thoughts.

I raised my brows, feigning interest. "_Really?_"

Surprisingly enough, Suigetsu didn't detect the insincerity of my tone. Instead, he seemed almost overjoyed by my "enthusiasm" and took to smiling brightly whenever I so much as glanced his way. I bit my lip when I noticed this, dread settling in my stomach like a lead ball. It was clear that Suigetsu had been overshadowed by his elder brother as well, just like I had, only in this case it might have been _worse_. At least I had been capable of understanding the way my parents had brushed me aside like I was nothing more than worthless garbage, but Suigetsu hadn't. Suigetsu clearly couldn't comprehend the reasoning behind their moves, and, as a result, had grown up starved for attention. I supposed that was why he behaved the way he did... He was purposely trying to call attention to himself, and once he had it he clearly didn't want it to go away.

_I should have... protected you._

I wrinkled my nose, disgusted by my own thoughts and shook my head vigorously before reaching down and picking up several wayward candies before handing them to Suigetsu, who just so happened to be less than a foot away. Suigetsu blinked owlishly at me as I did so, as if confused by my actions, and reached out to grab my hand. I almost shoved him away but I stopped at the last second and quietly surrendered to his sticky handhold. His flesh was warm and so sticky from the multitude of candies that he had shoved into his mouth that it stuck to my own flesh like glue. I probably couldn't have shaken him off even if I had wanted to.

_Disgusting, _I thought, just barely resisting the urge to shudder.

"No more candy for right now, alright?" I said, wrapping my arms around Suigetsu's waist and heaving him upwards. He protested for a moment, clearly confused by my behavior, but stopped when I sat him down on top of the kitchen counter.

"Stay," I told him, intent on searching out the yakisoba ingredients before Suigetsu had the chance to fuss about being hungry for the what felt like the hundredth time that day. By the time I found them, he'd probably want something else but I couldn't bring myself to care. He could starve if he so desired to or he could eat what I made him. It was his choice but I didn't really give a damn either way. I was _extremely _tired and my patience for dealing with this sort of thing had long since run out.

"But I wanna help!" Suigetsu whined, kicking and flailing his legs to illustrate his irritation.

I snorted. _Typical toddler behavior..._

"Fine, but don't break anything else, alright? I don't know how I'm going to explain the giant hole in Yagura's foyer wall so you better be on your _best _behavior. I can't let this mess get any worse."

Suigetsu nodded solemnly and jumped down from the counter, landing smoothly on the balls of his feet. He looked like a cat preparing to pounce on its prey but his posture was anything but aggressive. He shifted aimlessly from foot to foot, clearly antsy. It seemed that I wasn't the only one who was more than a little disturbed by Yagura's strange place of residence. Something about this place wasn't quite right, but I couldn't quite figure out just what it was that disturbed me so deeply. Perhaps it was the fact that we were so deeply underground that our cries would not have carried outwards and into the air like they would have if we had been on the upper level, thus making it all the more easy for attackers to "silently" end our lives. We were boxed in and I didn't like it.

Something rustled behind us and I automatically drew my blades, cursing when I accidentally grazed the tip of my index finger with the blade and taking my defensive stance. I automatically shoved Suigetsu behind me, completely ignoring his whines in favor of saving his life for what was probably the third time that day. I was so distracted and overwhelmed that I didn't bother thinking logically and, as a result, made an utter foot of myself.

The cause of the rustling was none other than Yagura himself, glassy-eyed and clad in the same blood stained clothes as before. In his right hand, he clutched a a small white sack that reeked of a combination of congealed grease and soggy squid. If I had bothered to take a deep breath beforehand, I would have undoubtedly caught his scent and recognized him before exhibiting any rash behavior. That, however, was not what I had done.

I had leapt towards the moving shadow, intent on piercing the attacker's jugular before he could reach Suigetsu, and promptly froze in place at the sight of the Mizukage looking so disheveled. In my surprise, I had released my grip on one of my blades and wound up stabbing myself through the top of my foot. Blood began to pool beneath my right foot as I stood there gaping at him like a dying fish but I hadn't felt any pain. I was oddly disconnected with my senses in some areas yet hyper-sensitive in others for reasons I could not explain nor fully comprehend.

Instead of dwelling on minute details, however, I instead turned my violet gaze in Yagura's direction, intent on searching out signs of a possible genjutsu brain washing. Yagura's posture was more relaxed than usual, having morphed into more of a slovenly hunch than his normally rigid positioning, and his eyes were red-rimmed with what I could only assume was lack of sleep but he looked relatively alright. I didn't smell anything unusual and I couldn't detect any of Obito's leftover chakra but that definitely didn't mean he wasn't still present.

"Yagura?" I whispered, tone far too tentative for my liking.

Yagura looked up, seemingly annoyed but still very tired. He quirked a brow at the sound of my voice but didn't otherwise acknowledge me. Instead, he practically collapsed onto the floor alongside Suigetsu and proceeded to eat one of the unretrieved candies he'd found with the casualty of someone who dealt with this sort of behavior on a daily basis. I continued to gape at him, so thoroughly surprised that I couldn't form an intelligible sentence.

Yagura tossed me the sack once he'd swallowed the candy he had ingested before flopping back down onto the ground like a stringless marionette. I would have laughed if the scene he presented with such a pose hadn't been so shockingly familiar that it sent a stream of shivers down my spine and made my skin prickle with gooseflesh. I could feel the ends of my long hair rising, which was teeming with enough chakra to allow them to rise upwards like the fur of a frightened kitten. That only ever happened when my chakra was returning to full capacity or I was within a close enough proximity to someone with chakra reserves strong enough for me to leech off of, but it hadn't happened in such a long time that I had forgotten the sensation entirely.

Instead of voice my fears, however, I informed Yagura that I was _not _his luggage rack and that he would have to take care of his own possessions unless he was willing to pay up for my services. He smirked at that, silently shaking his head dismissively.

"Hozuki, you're getting your filthy blood on my poor carpeting. I don't think I have to pay for anything."

I scowled at him and prepared to stomp on his exposed stomach out of spite, my previous feelings of pity long since disregarded. In all honesty, I couldn't believe that he was treating me like I was some kind of walking coatrack. I was a shinobi and I _definitely _wasn't furniture, so it was only fair that Yagura addressed me properly. Previously, I had always graced him with only the politest of tones and honorifics but now I couldn't be bothered with such trivial things. If Yagura couldn't address me using my given name I saw no point in paying him the same respects.

"Shut up!" I growled. Suigetsu giggled at that and I _almost_ cracked a smile, pleased by his supportive reaction.

Yagura blinked innocently in response, unperturbed by it all. It looked almost as if he was batting his eyelashes but I knew that not even Yagura was bizarre enough to do something like that. He'd be a laughing stock if he joked in such a casual manner, even if it was only in front of me. I could have very well blackmailed him if I had wanted to.

Yagura's innocent expression morphed into a demonic smirk so vile that it made my chest ache as dread began to settle there. His eyes flashed brightly but they did not glow with the tell-tale Sharingan. These eyes were Yagura's own, bright and pink enough to fool the simple minded into believing that he was a good person, someone you could trust. I almost laughed at the irony of it all, but the tang of bitter regret kept me from smirking back. I bit my lip instead, gnawing on the cracked flesh in an attempt to sate my growling stomach.

"Open the bag, Hozuki," Yagura hissed. "And be quick about it. We don't have much longer until the Kyūbi is released."

I tasted blood.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Ugh, this took so long to type out! I am still on my school trip, but we got wifi for like three hours because that's how long it takes us to eat at McDonalds (jfc). Pray for me my friends!

Before anyone flames me for writing Obito OOC, I'd like to say one thing: Given the time period, Obito is roughly nineteen years old. He hasn't quite grown into the person he is in Part II. He's still soft and he's still grieving. Obito never really got to grow up so his behavior is extremely abnormal considering his age, but I feel this is how he would behave- especially when dealing with someone like Chinatsu, who is literally so _done _with everything that she can't be bothered to give a damn either way.

Also, I got a message from one of my dear readers (ChibiKyuubi) suggesting that I make Chinatsu the jinchūriki of the Yin/Yang half of either Saiken or Isobu (Isobu would be easier and it has more of an opening to use) sometime in the near future. I was wondering what your thoughts on this were? I have always wanted to make a believable jinchūriki OC but I don't know if this is going to turn Chinatsu into a Sue or not. I mean, the Isobu _was _out of its container when it was captured by the Akatsuki so there was quite large window of time left open after Yagura's death, but I don't know. That would probably mean that I had to kill her then, so... Thoughts?

-MSM-


	18. Chapter Seventeen:

**Chapter Seventeen:**

"I'm a paradox. I want to be happy, but I think of things that make me sad. I'm lazy, yet I'm ambitious. I don't like myself, but I also love who I am. I say I don't care, but I really do. I crave attention, but reject it when it comes my way. I'm a conflicted contradiction. If I can't figure myself out, there's no way anyone else has."

— _Unknown_

**. ****. .**

"...We're going to _Konoha_?" I rasped, pupils dilating as my lungs contracted, squeezing the breath from my throat as they silently choked me to death. "But we'll never make it in time!"

Yagura chuckled, pallid face turning strikingly sanguine in the abysmally dark room. "Hozuki, do you take me for a fool? _Of course_ I thought to plan ahead. Our greatest enemy is falling and I'll be damned if I don't have front-row seats."

My eyes darkened as I watched him rise from his place on the floor, a knowing smirk plastered across his face. Yagura looked strangely demented, as if being possessed was slowly beginning to wear him down, but a part of me suspected that it was Isobu I was currently speaking to. Yagura was many things, most of them _horrible_, but he wasn't nearly as bipolar as the creature in front of me. If anything, Yagura was the most consistent person I knew. I myself was plagued with impulses and rash, poorly-formulated decisions further diluted by a maddening anger that boiled deep within me, just waiting to explode. The Yagura I knew did not lick his lips at the sight of my blood, as if the very scent of the life-giving essence drove him wild.

I was dealing with a beast, not a man, and this time I didn't have to be so friendly.

"You're right," I drawled, aimlessly picking at the dirt beneath my fingernails in an effort to appear far more relaxed than I actually was, "I don't take Yagura for a fool. But you aren't him, are you?"

Obito's foolish intrusion had likely loosened the seal that held Isobu back, and Yagura's current mental fatigue had clearly made him all too easy to overtake. Perhaps he _had _been Yagura only moments before, but it was clear that he wasn't any longer. For once, Isobu had taken control.

Yagura's nostrils flared at the sound of my patronizing tone and I smirked, seamlessly imitating the face he had made only moments before. _Too easy, _I mused, flicking a strand of hair out my eyes with the edge of my thumb. It was clear that neither Yagura nor Isobu had particularly good control of their tempers.

"Don't play with me child. What is it that you want from me?" Yagura hissed, almost instantly taking a rigid defensive stance.

I crossed my arms and slumped rather noncommittally against the wall, tossing the bag he had handed me only a few moments before onto the ground in the process. I didn't quite know what the suspiciously greasy packaging contained but I had an inkling as to what it may have been. It was likely the mess of gloppy, sauce-covered noodles that Suigetsu had requested earlier, but the strange scent emanating from the packaging made me suspect otherwise. Was Yagura- _no, _I correct myself, _Isobu_- trying to poison us?

As if to test my unspoken theory, Suigetsu snatched up the parcel and proceeded to sift through it before I could stop him. After a few moments of aimless shuffling, Suigetsu drew back, hands covered with sauce and his eyes aglow with excitement.

"See! See!" Suigetsu squealed, frantically trying to draw my attention his way.

At the sight of this, I silently stalked forward and pushed Suigetsu behind me, ignoring his soft whines of disappointment at my lack of attentiveness. Instead, I sent Yagura the frostiest glare I could manage, completely dodging his previous question in favor of professing my thoughts on the matter.

"That better not be poisoned," I growled, protectively shielding Suigetsu's form with my own in case the beast decided to charge at us. I doubted I would be able to move us out of the way in time but I couldn't allow myself to sit back and watch Suigetsu die. I would put myself between him and the beast, protecting him with my own form until I no longer had the ability to do so. Suigetsu was all I had. I couldn't lose him.

Isobu shifted in place and seemed to adopt a more casual, slouching stance. "_Please_. After all the trouble I went to, bringing you into my host's home and collecting the brat's food? It would all be a waste, now wouldn't it?"

I clucked my tongue in annoyance at the sound of Isobu's low, rasping voice and leant down, using the edge of my ruined sleeve to wipe the sauce off of Suigetsu's hands and face. Somehow, when I hadn't been looking, he had managed to consume well over half of the parcel's contents, though I suspected that most of it had wound up on his tee-shirt instead of in his mouth.

Behind us, Isobu shifted yet again, as if irritated by the lack of attention he was receiving. Inwardly, I allowed myself to smirk at his behavioral incompetence but outwardly I made sure to stay calm and collected, largely for Suigetsu's sake. I doubted he understood what was going on and I didn't want to panic him. It would only serve to cause more problems for me in the future, especially if we needed to make a quick escape. A flailing, sobbing toddler would hardly be an ideal travel companion so it would best if I kept him in the dark for now.

"It would, I suppose," I muttered, partially agreeing with Yagura's sentiments but doing my absolute best to keep Suigetsu calm.

"Have some," Suigetsu said, offering me a handful of yakisoba noodles and a wide, gap-toothed smile.

I blanched at the sight of the dish, thoroughly appalled by Suigetsu's unsanitary behavior but _incredibly _hungry at the same time. I hadn't eaten in three days and if I didn't consume something soon, I would very probably wind up dead. Thus, despite my mind telling me to do otherwise, I ducked my head downwards and took a _massive _bite out of the remaining noodles nestled within the container, staining my cheeks with teriyaki sauce in the process. I couldn't quite bring myself to eat what Suigetsu had offered me, largely because the child had no comprehension of what was clean and what wasn't, but I was willing to cast aside those beliefs in favor of self-preservation.

"Ugh," I gasped, half-choking on the obscene amount of food I just attempted to swallow, "Disgusting."

Suigetsu giggled in response to my plight, his face half-hidden by his palms, and I glared at him as hard as I could before swiping the parcel from him and resuming the tedious task that is toddler clean-up. Whenever I was sure I had made at least _some _headway in terms of cleaning him up, Suigetsu would stuff another handful of food into his mouth and make an even bigger mess than before. It was almost as if he was _intentionally _trying to mess with me, but I wasn't sure if Suigetsu was intelligent enough to attempt such a dangerous task.

Behind me, Isobu snorted, clearly finding humor in my distress, and began to close the gap between us. He stepped forward rather slowly, toned legs making quick work of the space between us, and paused just before reaching out to grab a piece of my long, matted hair.

"I've come to collect what's mine, Hozuki, and I trust you plan to give it back." He stated ever-so-casually as he twirled a strand of my hair around the tip of his index finger, as if we were discussing dinner details or a friendly game of cards. However, it was painfully obvious that whatever Isobu was planning on was far from a good thing. This man- _no, this beast_- was not a good person and I definitely couldn't pretend that he was. Silently, I prayed that Yagura would soon awaken and overtake Isobu before anything truly terrible could happen.

Watching Yagura behave so strangely was probably one of the most uncomfortable things I had ever had to deal with. I _knew _that it wasn't him staring at me with such a strange, leering expression plastered across his face, nor was it him tugging at my hair just hard enough to make it sting. It was Isobu, a monster so fearsome that it almost _burnt _to be within his presence. I couldn't handle him, let alone a creature as hellbound as the Kyūbi. My skin crawled at the mere thought of such a creature glaring down at me as it sliced me apart with its long, gleaming claws.

I had no idea what Isobu wanted, nor did I understand why he assumed I had it. I could only wait for him to advance and carefully begin my own counterattack before I suffered from too much damage. I was in a position where the odds were clearly not in my favor and, as a result, I was far from comfortable. Without time to research and plan I was as good as blind in this would-be battle. I knew virtually nothing about Isobu's techniques and I had no idea how I would be able to overpower him if he decided to initiate a battle. Needless to say, I was feeling more than a little anxious to escape.

"What do I have?" I murmured quizzically, deftly reaching up to smack Isobu's wayward hand away from my tangled tresses.

He hissed when our flesh made contact, as if he was more snake than anything else, and drew back, swiftly tucking his hands into the folds of his tunic. I wrinkled my nose at the bizarrity of his behavior but offered no commentary. Instead, I only drew closer to Suigetsu, who hadn't seemed to notice Isobu's disgruntling behavior. Suigetsu, ever-the-oblivious, had been busily making as much of a mess as he possibly could, giggling all the while. I reached out as if to crush his larynx but stopped just before my palm brushed his collarbone, feeling a tad remorseful. It would be a _horrible _waste if I killed him now over something so trivial.

"My chakra. Give me my chakra, girl." Isobu growled from behind us, having since regained his stoic composure during my brief lapse of inattentiveness.

I exhaled, forcing a stream of scalding-hot air from my nostrils like I had seen Yagura do earlier, exhaling nothing but fizzling steam in distaste. "I don't have your chakra, dumbass. If I had your chakra, wouldn't _you _be inside me?"

I watched as Yagura narrowed his eyes in a manner not unlike his usual disgusted grimace, but the baritone that responded to my query reminded me that the form in front of me did not belong to him. The voice was too husky and somehow sounded _old_, just like Isobu himself.

"No," He replied, "I cannot leave this form unless the seal is broken. Until then, I am tethered to this sack of flesh, condemned to rot inside this prison of a man. But my chakra can be taken from me, child, and it looks as if _you _stole it."

I shook my head, all the while eyeing the creature warily, my hands creeping closer towards my kunai pouch with every passing second. "I didn't take your chakra, old man. I'm _seven _in case you didn't know already. There's no way I'd know how to do something like that."

What Isobu was suggesting was _completely _ludicrous, that much I knew for certain. I knew that I _had _gone incredibly fast earlier but that hadn't been something on bijū level. In fact, my father probably could have sprinted right past me if he had so desired to. I hadn't done anything in the past few hours that was particularly noteworthy, so it was more than a little likely that Isobu's chakra had been taken elsewhere. Perhaps Madara himself had absorbed it?

Either way, I _definitely _didn't have it and Isobu was foolish for thinking I did. I was a mere child compared to him, _a goddamned_ _bijū_, and I doubted I could harm him if I tried. Isobu had seen countless battles and lived through many wars, meticulously gleaning experience from each battle he fought. He was likely more than a millennia old and I was just about to turn eight, which lead to an astonishingly pathetic difference in both skill level and maturity. My past life- if I had even had one in the first place- hardly counted. Without my own bijū, there was no way I'd be able to overpower Isobu when the time came. If he wanted to take my chakra, I was going to have to relent and give him what he wanted, regardless of whether or not it was what he had actually desired in the first place.

At the sound of my rather dejected tone, Isobu snorted in disbelief and forced Yagura to shift, clumsily waving his hands in what I could only assume was a dismissive manner. Clearly, he didn't believe a _word _of what I had said.

"Don't lie, girl, I can smell it on you right now."

Ribbons of gooseflesh appeared on my upper arms, a rare feat that only occurred during moments of extreme panic on my behalf. I had no idea what he was- _wait. _Only just yesterday, Madara had said something about "being careful of my stitches". Seeing as I was someone who had never undergone any major medical surgery (that I was aware of), it had been a rather bizarre statement for him to have made but I had been far too preoccupied to pay Madara much attention.

Clearly, I hadn't made the best decision.

Without thinking, I slowly reached towards my chest and pulled apart the torn seams of my top, revealing the charcoal-colored camisole I wore underneath. It was stained brown with blood and smelt more of fire than anything else, but I honestly doubted that the scent of decay could be hidden for very long. As if by reflex, I curled inwards, blocking Isobu's searching gaze with my now-bare back, and examined the flesh beneath it. Just below my clavicle, someone had made a long, thin incision in my flesh but had seemingly sewn it back together with plain black thread, as if they were repairing a puppet instead of a human being. Even so cautiously, I felt at the flesh there, my fingers tracing over the seam whilst my heart pounded ferociously in my chest.

And then the answer to both Isobu's questions and my own hit me harder than a chakra-fueled punch to the gut. I drew back, reflexively releasing the fabric of my top, and began to hyperventilate. I gasped loudly for breath as I clutched at my chest, body shaking with a nervousness I could not comprehend.

"My heart," I rasped, still clutching at my chest, "My heart."

Isobu was by my side in an instant, already reaching for the hem of my top. I slapped his hands away and attempted to push him backwards, but his chest was too stout for me snap backwards. Regardless of his appearance, Yagura's form had the density I expected a marble statue to carry- likely a side effect of his status as the jinchūriki known for spitting molten coral onto the flesh of his enemies, thus burning them alive. Yagura gaped at me in a manner so familiar that it _hurt _to look at him, so unsuspecting and confused, and know that it wasn't really him in control of his own form. Isobu was the one I was dealing with and I _definitely _couldn't expect any sympathy on his behalf. He was a monster and a _real _one, nothing like the rumors and fancy titles that had been thrown at Yagura since he had come into power. Isobu was on an entirely different level, and it was one that I most certainly could not match._  
><em>

_I'm doomed, _I thought, heart hammering in my chest so loudly that I was sure everyone within a five kilometer radius could hear it beating.

One of Yagura's hands flew to my throat and clasped it tightly, his knuckles turning bone-white with force, whilst the other trailed downwards towards my heart. It stopped there, just below my lapel, as if Isobu was anxious about what he might find there. I could feel both his and Yagura's chakra thrumming beneath their shared flesh, percolating and shifting as it bled throughout their bones and crashed through each and every fiber of shared muscle like a tidal wave, totally eclipsing the ebb and flow of my own chakra signature. They were one and the same, I realized, two separate entities yet _so _close together that they could not be torn apart. I was so distracted by their massive chakra signature that I didn't realize I was beginning to suffocate until Yagura's cold hands were pressed against indentation beneath my flesh where my ribcage met my clavicle, effectively jarring me from my chakra-induced stupor.

I struggled against Yagura's far-too-firm grip as best as I could, but I did little more than muss my already-tangled hair and aggravate my facial injuries. Yagura's grip was, as always, unshakable. Feeling more than a little panicked, my hands inched downwards in search of a kunai, the latter of which I located and brandished in a mere six seconds. Hesitantly, I arched the kunai upwards, aiming for Yagura's wrist with no small amount of remorse at the thought of causing him even more pain, and released the blade. It made contact at the same time Suigetsu did, though he was armed with a sword and did far more damage than I did. My kunai bounced harmlessly off of Suigetsu's blade and ricocheted outwards, colliding with Yagura's wall and shattering the plaster it found there before clattering to the floor like a broken toy. Beside me, Suigetsu's sword embedded itself in Yagura's left palm, slicing through my own skull in the process.

I could feel the blood as it dripped downwards and into my eyes, clouding them with crimson, but I was far too surprised by the events that had just taken place to react. Suigetsu had, for once, taken charge of the situation! If I hadn't been so panicked, I probably would have offered him a few words of praise, but I doubted Isobu would let such a blasphemous act slide.

And I was right.

Almost instantly, Isobu released me, leaving me gasping for breath as I watched him leap several yards away and disappear into a cloud of ever-encroaching mist. Suigetsu and I exchanged glances and I immediately rose to my feet, eyes dark with fury. Regardless of his intentions, Isobu had _humiliated _me and now I was going to make him pay for it. The flaxen-haired Mizukage was hardly a substitute for Mangetsu, but at this point I would accept almost anything. I had lost more than I had previously thought possible in the past twenty four hours, the consequences of which would have likely reduced a lesser man to tears, and now I was being disrespected?!

"No," I said, my eyes narrowed with distaste, "I shall not let this slide."

My knives flashed, and in an instant they were in my hands, glinting brightly in the lamplight as I advanced forward, eyes glinting red in the poorly lit room as I prepared to unleash all hell on the man who had _dared_ to disrespect me. I would kill him now, regardless of who he truly was and what he owed me. With him gone, I could easily take his position. Seven was a bit too young for a prestigious title but I assured myself that there was a first time for everything. Yagura had only risen to power because he could not be defeated, not because he was loved. I would rule the same way- with a fist like iron and a heart heavy with hatred. I would be the best of the best, just as I deserved to be. I would not allow Suigetsu nor anyone else to overshadow me any longer.

Growling, I crouched down and readied myself for the fastest sprint I could manage, my flesh quivering with pent-up anger as I silently took my battle stance.

This kill was _mine_.

Without giving Yagura a chance to react, I sprinted forward, silently willing whatever power I supposedly possessed to grant me the strength I needed to defeat him. Feeling rather pleased with myself, I backflipped off of the kitchen wall and launched myself into the air, arching through it with all the poise and style of a professional gymnast. Regardless of how I appeared, I had _always _had a knack for aerodynamic feats. In the air, I doubted a ground-based fighter like Yagura could do much damage unless I gave him a particularly large opening. Then, as if to prove my own point, I pivoted twice and slammed my heel down onto Yagura's skull. The resounding crack as we clashed together was more than a little satisfying, but my euphoria did not last long. Almost instantly, Yagura's injuries began to heal and his skin darkened as Isobu's chakra surged outwards, forming a long, spiked tail.

Before I could even blink, Yagura's tail was already whipping towards me, its spikes drawn, as Yagura began to howl so loudly that my left ear began to bleed and Suigetsu began to cry, seemingly well past his limit. He had already suffered enough as it was and I couldn't bring myself to put him through any more torture without at least _attempting _to end his pain with my own to hands. Clenching my teeth to ward off the vibrating pain that emanated from my shattered ear drum, I ducked under Yagura's tail and sliced upwards, burying both my blades in the tender flesh of Yagura's under belly. His blood surged forth, leaking out of the gaping wound like spilt water trickling downwards, thoroughly soaking both the blade and my forearms. I just barely managed to tear the knife from Yagura's hip before his tail came crashing towards, crushing the tile flooring beneath it and sending Suigetsu flying through the air like a cannonball. He landed relatively smoothly and ducked behind Yagura's refrigerator, his blade still drawn and his eyes dark with his own immeasurable fury.

I was so distracted by Suigetsu's movements that I didn't notice Yagura's tail until it had already come crashing down upon me, its spikes breaking off and embedding themselves into my abdomen as the back of my skull collided with the stone earth, shattering the tile beneath me in its wake. For a single intangible moment, all I saw were blindingly white stars and smears of my own blood as it trickled down my forehead and into my eyes, tinting them a darker shade of crimson with every second that ticked past. I was so stunned and disoriented from the blows that I didn't move for several seconds and barely reacted when Yagura swooped down on top of me, his eyes wild with demented darkness as he reached out towards me with palms full of fire.

I screamed as Yagura's form descended upon me, his flesh aflame and his eyes completely and utterly _monstrous_ and wrapped his hands around my neck just as he had before. His palms were oddly cool despite the fact that they were literally on fire and I could still feel the remnants of his scabbed-over wound from before, the one Suigetsu had given him when he had shoved the sword through my skull, grating against the tender flesh beneath my jaw. Without warning, Yagura's grip tightened as I struggled against him, clawing ficiously at whatever I could reach. Without a heavy, weighted weapon in my arms my slashes were faster and drew blood with every attempt. I knew couldn't compete with Yagura's auto-regenerative capabilities, though, and I was running out of time. If I couldn't force my way out of his grip soon, I would most definitely suffocate.

I didn't quite understand why Yagura always went for the throat when it came to fights with me. It was almost as if he expected the rest of my body to fight back against him but the throat was the only place he could find that wouldn't protest as I choked to death. It was an oddly logical method, granted it was one I didn't quite understand.

My face purpled, turning a darker shade of bruise with ever excruciating moment that passed the two of us by. I was still kicking and struggling against Yagura's grip but our size difference offered Yagura no small advantage. Despite being extremely petite for an adult male, Yagura still towered over someone like me, a little girl who hadn't had a growth spurt since the age of four. Dread settled deep within me as both my lungs and my flesh began to burn, though for two entirely different reasons.

"Let me go!" I screamed, my words disjointed and muffled due to the lack of air in my lungs. "I'm going to die!"

Yagura did not react to my words. Instead, he continued to tighten his grip on my jugular as I struggled beneath him. Feeling as if all hope was lost, I built up every ounce of strength I possessed and socked Yagura in the jaw for all I was worth.

To my surprise, it actually _worked_.

Yagura stumbled backwards, pale eyes ablaze with humiliation and his cheekbone stained dark with ruptured blood vessels. I rose to my feet as he toppled over, coughing up blood and wiping a few stray tears from my reddened eyes. Suigetsu was at my side in an instant, cooing and giggling at the hit I had landed on Yagura like some kind of drunken psychopath. Reflexively, I positioned myself in front of him and drew my knives, patiently awaiting Yagura's next attack. It was only then that I realized the spikes Yagura had released were still embedded in my abdomen. Feeling rather nauseous, I hesitantly traced a fingertip along the edges of the wounds I found there. My fingertip came back stained dark, purplish red and reeking of poison. I had less than a second to panic once I had realized this before I passed out on the ground, weapons still clutched tightly in my hands.

Suigetsu screamed.

* * *

><p>A fly buzzed above my head, circling once, twice and then a third time whilst I stared into a nearby corner with no small amount of resignation. I didn't even have to search the perimeter of the room to know that I had been defeated and then imprisoned like some kind of slave. Yagura likely planned to leave me here to <em>rot<em>.

It had always been clear that the two of us were never on the best of terms but I had never once thought Yagura would resort to something like this. Then again, I knew virtually nothing about him. I _thought _I could trust him- which had been a huge mistake on my part- but it was clear that I definitely could not. I didn't give a damn about Konoha, the upcoming war or the demise of my clan. What bothered me was the fact that Isobu had beaten the living hell out of me and Yagura had done _nothing _to stop it. Admittedly, the man had been under mind control but I if I chose to follow that sort of logic Yagura could get out of anything he so desired to because he was rarely- if ever- in total control of his mind and body. He could resist the tailed beach, that much I knew for certain.

But he had not done a thing for me.

_Yes, _I had tried to kill him but I was a child and children make more mistakes that they do messes. It wasn't my fault that I had been drug into this against my will. I hadn't _chosen _to be born the way I was. It had merely happened, just like everything else I had experienced in this pathetic excuse for a lifetime. Perhaps, I mused wryly, this was my punishment for cheating death.

It was clear to me now that whatever mess I had stumbled upon when Yagura had chosen me as his disciple wasn't exactly something I could run away from. After all, I now carried two pieces of Madara's plan within me- his seal and a heart he had given me whilst I was unconscious and bleeding out on the cave floor, completely and utterly doomed. The latter realization had only dawned on me seconds before Isobu had pounced, but it was clear that he had reached the same conclusion. In all honesty, I was more than a little bewildered by the prospect of carrying an unknown, foreign heart within the confines of my own form, but it was clear that I would be dead without the organ's addition. My old heart had never been much to brag about- in fact, it had been horribly weak- but it was _mine _and that was honestly all that had mattered at the time.

Even now, it was obvious that my logic had been flawed. My old heart had been small and slow-beating, like that of a conditioned shinobi's, though mine had been much easier to rile. I had always been jumpy- a trait that often came with the lifestyle I pursued- but the constant state of fatigue combined with breathlessness had made it difficult for me to survive. Despite being far from weak minded, I had always fainted easily after long periods of physical activity and my chakra reserves had never been anything more than subpar. The later effect had likely been caused by the root of all my troubles- the heart- which was the main component in both chakra circulation and creation, though I wasn't entirely sure either way. It had been only a matter of time before said heart failed me but the fact that Madara had actually "taken care" of the problem was what worried me.

It was almost _sad _that I hadn't figured it out before but I doubted I had been in the right mind when I had made the discovery. Suigetsu and I had been beaten bloody, burnt and had sat starving in a grotto for nearly thirty-six hours before the fighting had even _begun_. I had been running on empty already and the fighting had only made it worse, the overusage of my chakra tiring my mind until it was all I could do to keep standing, let alone formulate a decent strategy. The event as a whole had been horribly coincidental but I couldn't figure out if Madara was behind all of it or if it was mere luck that had caused things to work out the way they had.

I had no idea who or what the heart Madara had given me belonged to, but it was painfully obvious that it contained more of Isobu's chakra than my own. Part of me wondered- albeit vaguely- if the heart actually belonged to Yagura himself but I doubted that was the case. Without his heart, he would most likely be dead, tailed beast be damned. Regeneration could only take care of so much and I knew for a fact that Yagura couldn't regrow entire limbs, much less his vital organs. Regardless of how impenetrable he _seemed, _Yagura had many, many weaknesses. It was only a matter of time before I had learnt them all by heart._  
><em>

And it would be then that I took his head as my prize.

Originally, I hadn't exactly _planned _to kill him just yet but now I was willing to do it as soon as I could. With Yagura's grip on his sanity weakening with every day that passed, it was clear that I could easily tear him down from the inside out once I unearthed the darkest of his secrets. With his weaknesses so blatantly exposed, I could easily tear his heart out and leave him to _rot _in a castle of flames, much like he had with me. I had foolishly assumed the two of us were on the same side, but it was clear to me now that I had been far too naïve. I was dealing with the man who had lain nations, villages and clans to waste almost singlehandedly, the man who murdered babies and slit maidens' throats before robbing them blind. Yagura was not a good man...

But neither was I.

I was only loyal to this village for power and nothing else. With my clan slaughtered, it would be all the more easy to go rogue. I had no physical attachments to this island nor the people within it, Suigetsu notwithstanding. Mangetsu, I supposed, counted as well- though for an entirely different reason. Mangetsu was the object of my hatred and the incarnation of my ire, birthed from the darkness in my heart and only capable of _ruining _what little I had left to cherish. Silently, I swore to have his head on a pike before the dawn of my tenth winter began to creep over the craggy mountainside that bordered the village I had once ironically called "home." If the people of Kirigakure did not accept me as their leader once both Mangetsu and Yagura were mere ashes in the wind, I would burn the whole damn village to the ground and betray them just like they had done with me.

A small smile graced my face and I rolled over onto my side, facing the stone wall. Moving rather deliberately, I closed both my eyes and concentrated on centering the ebb and flow of my chakra. Once I had gathered all I could, I would crush the wall in front of me and make my escape. All I needed was a little time.

"I cared once." I stated idly, speaking more to my rapidly weakening conscience than anything else, "I won't make the same mistake twice."

_An eye for an eye... And all of you shall die._

* * *

><p>It took quite some time for me to come to terms with my decision and gather my thoughts on the matter entirely. Even after much contemplation, I <em>still <em>hadn't reached a verdict. Either way, I knew that I couldn't leave just yet. I was yet to lay eyes on Suigetsu and a strange, unfamiliar feeling arose whenever I contemplated leaving without him. Vengeance or not, I still owed him for saving me just before the battle and it wouldn't be good to leave such a due unpaid.

That aside, he was _still _my blood would likely prove to be useful in the near future. Throwing away such an important weapon would hardly be the best decision I could possibly make. Regardless of the way he acted, Suigetsu was still a skilled fighter who would only become even more valuable as he aged. I doubted I had been that capable at the age of four, though I had been worlds ahead of him in intelligence. With my wits and Suigetsu's sword-wielding skill, the two of us made the perfect combination. Once I had retrieved him, eliminating my enemies would only grow easier.

Feeling rather pleased, I promptly rolled off the bed and rose to my feet like a corpse rising from its grave. The room was quaint and oddly cutesy in decoir, with pale blue walls and neatly arranged white furniture settled above smooth, velveteen carpeting and modern electrical outlets. It looked like something you'd find in a civilian household instead of smack-dab in the center of the world's bloodiest shinobi capitol. My skin prickled as I realized this and I rushed to find a window, frantically praying that I was still somewhere recognizable. I discovered a small porthole behind a towering cream-colored bookshelf, the latter of which I promptly pushed out of the way in a frenzied attempt at finding some sort of escape route. The bookshelf squeaked as it shifted and almost crushed my left foot, but I managed to leap out of the way before the structure came crashing down atop me.

With the path to the porthole now cleared, I returned to my original plan and stood on my tiptoes in an attempt to see out of the small window. As always, the structure had been designed for _much _taller people and my petite frame didn't provide me with enough lank to properly get a glimpse of the surrounding area. Swearing softly to myself, I squatted down and began to drag the fallen bookshelf back over to the wall before using it as a stool to see outside.

I expected to see the same waterlogged grass, muddy pastures and craggy mountains as always, all of them partially obscured by the ever-present mist. However, that is not what I saw. Instead of seeing a dismally grey village stained brown with dried blood, I saw nothing but kilometer after kilometer of spiraling sea, whitecapped waves hammering against the hull of what I could only assume was a ship. Once the realization hit home, I let out a strangled sound somewhere between a yelp and a moan and collapsed onto the floor, clutching at my head with both hands so tightly that my fingernails made deep indentations in my flesh.

"Great," I said, kicking at the wall hard enough to make a long blackened smudge with the heel of my boot, "This is just _great_. I'm stranded in the middle of absolutely nowhere on ship that doesn't even belong to me and I have no idea where the hell I am or who I'm with."

Still fuming, I rose to my feet and stalked over to the doorway before trying to turn the handle. Unsurprisingly, it did not turn and there was no lock in sight. Clearly, the door had been tightly sealed and I doubted I was strong enough to break through the gleaming titanium in my current state. Once I realized this, I groaned yet again and proceeded to have one of the worst tantrums I can remember having. I cannot remember exactly what I did then, nor how I felt, but I do know that all I saw was rage and the dead bodies of my brethren aflame in the background as Yagura took everything I loved away from me. Fueled by an incredible fury, I kicked a hole in the floor large enough to ruin the pristine carpeting and tore the overly-fluffed pillows in half before stomping on the left over pieces. I screamed so loudly that the lights flickered on and off, and I was just about to break the window and escape when the door slowly began to creak open. Yagura stood on the other side of the doorframe, looking rather bemused by my behavior. On impulse, I hurled a chunk of pillow is his direction, only to watch it (disappointingly) fly over his head and collide with the wall before falling uselessly to the floor. Surprisingly enough, Yagura said nothing in regards to my attempt at maiming him with a pillow. Instead, he only raised an eyebrow before turning and stalking away, his newly-donned cap flowing behind him like plumes of black flame as the door simultaneously slammed shut.

Feeling both rather bewildered by Yagura's sudden appearance and upset with myself for not bothering to try kicking down the door earlier, I kicked the door knob off the door paneling and used it to break the porthole window. Then, I took my chances and leapt out the window. If I wanted to escape with Suigetsu in tow, I couldn't follow after Yagura and simply _ask _him for directions. I had to surprise him.

As soon as I was outside, I realized I had made a _horrible _mistake. The side of the ship was so slick with salt that I couldn't get a grip and instead had to bury one of my knives into the paneling to keep from falling off it entirely. As I dangled helplessly above the same stormy, raging waters that housed my current prison, it was all I could do to keep from breaking down into a crying fit. I wasn't exactly sad- _had I ever been sad? _- but the stress I had been under throughout the past month was worsening with every passing day and it was beginning to get to me. I had never been particularly emotive nor interested in what was going on around me, but I feared my stoicism was weakening. It wouldn't be long until I was just another sniveling brat under Yagura's command, a mere tool for him to play with and _break _as he saw fit.

As if on cue, a wave twice the size of the ship crashed over my head, soaking me from top to bottom as I shook with cold. Water was usually a comfort and a necessity, something I could not live without. However, sea water was an entirely different matter. Salt made my skin itch as if it had been pricked by a thousand needles and sand gave me a dark, sunburn-like rash. The ocean had never quite agreed with me and I was finally starting to see why.

Cursing under my breath, I unsheathed my other knife and jammed it into the ledge just above me before gripping the handle tightly and hoisting myself up. My biceps shook with strain as I forced the underdeveloped muscles to support all of my body weight in an effort to pull myself up over the ledge and subsequently onto the upper deck. Just as the handle of the blade threatened to snap, I managed to topple over the edge of the hull and subsequently into the safety net that was the upper deck.

My boots were spongy beneath my feet and my tunic was laced with seaweed, but I was still very much alive and in the end I couldn't bring myself to complain about the results. If I was lucky, Yagura hadn't noticed my absence and I could grab Suigetsu before he realized anything was amiss.

_Now... how to find him?_

Part of me wondered if I should simply attempt to sniff him out, but another, more skeptical part of me said _no, _I should not. My heightened sense of smell had likely come from the sudden influx of Isobu's chakra and it wouldn't be a good idea to become too dependant on such a skill. Even so, it would probably best if I did use it, if only just this once. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and searched out the familiar flicker of chakra that I knew belonged to Suigetsu. His scent was something I knew by heart and would be for me easy to pick out in a crowd, but for some reason I couldn't smell anything other than the half-rotted stench that was Yagura and his beastly companion. They were everywhere on this ship, blocking out everything else with their horrible, pungent odor.

I wrinkled my nose. Yagura smelt of death and that was a smell I had never been able to tolerate, no matter how often I had been exposed to it. In my opinion, all corpses were mere trash and burials were a frivolous waste of time. Bodies should be burned once they had become nothing more than feeding grouns for maggots, and if Yagura's smell was any indication, he should have been consumed by maggots long ago. It was as if Yagura was dead where he stood, reeking of death and suffering as deeply as his demon.

_"The hellbringer rises," _something deep inside me whispered in an oddly familiar tone of voice, _"Take his head before he takes yours."_

A part of me _did_ want to follow my instincts and simply take Yagura's life before he could ruin any more of mine, but I knew it would only make things worse. Yagura had mercilessly attacked me during our last battle and I doubted he would let me live _twice_. I had been lucky once but I couldn't count on the same thing ever happening again.

Yagura _had _been out of his mind during our battle but he should have been able to stop himself and reign the best in. He had been doing so for most of his life and it was _ridiculous _to think that he "suddenly" couldn't stop Isobu's mental advances. I was intelligent enough to understand that he hadn't done so because he hadn't wanted to, and even if he had spared my life I refused to forgive him.

My nose twitched as I caught the scent of something totally different from both Yagura's chakra signature and Suigetsu's own. This scent was heavier than Suigetsu's and smelt almost _grey_- if that was even possible- like a reflection of the sea itself. Something about it was decidedly feminine and almost perfume-like in density, and I knew for a fact that said scent did not belong to me. My own scent was rather dull and generic, just barely detectable and laden with the scent of balmy seawater. Whoever this person was clearly had not crossed paths with me before. Their scent was vaguely familiar but ultimately foreign, like something I had noticed in passing rather than first-hand. The chara signature likely belonged to a Kirigakure shinobi given its familiarity, but other than that I had no clue what I was up against.

_Please don't be lava, _I thought, reminiscing about the lava-spitter I had gone up against less than two weeks before the catastrophe that was Madara Uchiha had ruined _everything_ I had grown to love. The girl's chakra signature had been somewhat similar to the one I was currently observing, ashen in both color and scent, like flakes of perfumed ember, and it was safe to assume that she was indeed the one on board with Yagura.

"Damn it all," I hissed, stomping my feet, "I can't take both of them!"

I had _just _barely managed to escape the lava-spitter's wrath and that in itself was no small feat. There was absolutely no way I could defeat them both, so I resigned yet again to turn tail and _run _once I had retrieved Suigetsu. I would have been long gone already if not for the fact that they had either killed him or cloaked his scent, making Suigetsu about as easy to find as a needle in a haystack.

Even so, I had to try. He was still my flesh and blood- the last of my flesh and blood- and too valuable to lose. If I let him die, I would undoubtedly regret it for the rest of my life.

Without wasting another second, I surged forwards and deftly began to pull open the cabin door. The door slowly creaked open to reveal a dim, grotto-like control room and set of stairs that led downwards into the darkness beneath the hull. No one was inside the control room but there was a single cup of coffee situated on the corner of one of the many shelves, still piping hot with steam. Hesitantly, I pressed the tip of my finger to the edge of the cup and dipped my thumbnail into the liquid. It smells more like Yagura than anything else here does. It must be his. Clearly, I just missed him.

_Now where did he go? _It's obvious that there's nowhere else on the ship to go except downwards, which is what I decide to do. It's definitely not the smartest thing I could possibly attempt but I'm fresh out of ideas and too tired to care either way. If I'm attacked, it will all be over before I can really fight back, so I might as well take my chances.

I descend the stairs one by one, being careful to avoid the puddles of water I find dripping down the sides of a few of them. The air around me is incredibly moist and I feel as if I am wading through a stagnant creek with every step I take. Vaguely, I wonder if this kind of environment is a product of the combined efforts of a lava-spitting fire user and a water ninjutsu master, but I don't bother to dwell on my thoughts for much longer than a hairsbreadth of a second. Suigetsu was far more important than a petty observation, and I had to be on guard if I want to make it out of here alive.

Beside me, something shifts and I resist the urge to jump. Instead, I draw my knives and slide down into a crouched position behind the closest column in the stairwell. The hunk of plaster is just wide enough for me to hide behind, and if I was lucky the intruder wouldn't sense me at all.

As usual, things do not go my way.

The figure moved forwards so quickly that I momentarily assumed that they had vanished in midair, only to reappear seconds later on the other side of the column, situated just beside me. The figure was crouching, far too tall to occupy the space beside me without the two of us feeling incredibly squished, and clad in an enormous sweeping poncho emblazoned with four small, hollow circles and a pair of winter boots so well-worn that they looked as if they had never been removed. The figure wore an ANBU Hunter nin mask marked with a Kirigakure symbol, thus proving their status as a Water Country native, but dressed like a foreigner from lands incomprehensibly far away. I did not recognize their mask's pattern, for it was far too generic, but it fit the figure's round face like a second skin and that alone was enough to assure me that it truly belonged to them.

"So it's you." The figure stated, finally breaking the silence between us. Their voice is decidedly feminine but their posture, rough and wide, suggests otherwise. That, coupled with their baggy clothing, androgynous hairstyle and even blander choice in mask, made it next to impossible for me to identify them as someone I knew.

I nodded once, my hands automatically reaching for a kunai despite the fact that the figure presents no visible threat. "Yes. I am Hozuki Chinatsu, disciple of the Yondaime Mizukage and heir to the Hozuki bloodline. Who might you be?"

My tone was formal and clipped, much like my mother's became when she was about to hurl something across the room in a fit of frustration. However, I did not allow myself to display such petty emotions. In the presence of an elite, I had to be constantly on guard. ANBU were twice the shinobi Jōnin were and hunter nin were even stronger in a full-fledged battle. I had to be careful not to overstep any boundaries if I wanted to escape with my life.

The figure shifted again, hands clasped tightly in their lap and emptied of any potential weapons. "Mhm. Thought so. I'm Kurosawa, servant of the Yondaime. I thought you were in your room...?"

They had a strange accent, one I've only ever heard being used in the Swamp regions where the uncivilized clans dwel. Their words come out half-strangled and the vowels were all flat, as if the life had been stomped out of them.

_Kurosawa... The swamp dwellers from lower Kanto? What's one of them doing all the way out here? _I wondered, childhood stories of cannibalistic savages swimming through my mind.

I laughed nervously at the other's statement, trying to appear at ease. It sounded false, even to me, but I could not allow them to see through my facade of false cheeriness. "I wanted to take a walk."

It's a baldfaced lie and I was _positive_ the Hunter nin could tell, but they offered no complaints. Instead, they shifted aimlessly in place and began to rifle through the contents their thigh holster, a piece of thin black metal so small that I doubted anything other than kunai could fit inside. It was almost if they were trying to make up for the silence between us, as if they felt _awkward_, but I couldn't care less either way. Whatever Madara had done to me was probably beginning to take effect and I couldn't rest comfortably with such a dangerous piece of information sealed deep within me. I ached all over, like I had lost the brutalist of fights, but I felt oddly disconnected from the pain, as if my body did not truly belong to me.

"Mhm," They finally said, "Is your brother the little'n with blue hair?"

I wrinkled my nose, struggling to resist the urge to respond with as much sarcasm as humanly possible. Suigetsu and I were nearly carbon copies of one another, the only obvious differences being our height, weight and hair length. It was almost painfully obvious that we were related. Did they even have to ask?!

"Yes," I replied simply. "His name is Suigetsu."

The figure chortled, as if amused by my response. "Cute. He's a loud one, he is."

I rolled my eyes, pretending I cared. "You got that right."

Suigetsu was an absolute _nightmare _sometimes but he wasn't any worse than I was, so I couldn't exactly complain. He was still just a child after all and hadn't yet learnt right from wrong. I, on the other hand, had no excuses.

Then again, neither had my mother but that hadn't stopped her.

I was on edge for the next few moments, constantly crackling with nerves at the slightest change in the environment. The figure was still yet to move or advance towards me. They seemed content as they were, waiting in the shadows of the stairwell for something exciting to happen. Finally, I grew tired of the incessant waiting and rose to my feet. I was just about to sprint away when I felt the figure shift behind me. A clammy hand made contact with my shoulder only seconds later, squeezing tight enough to cause just a little pain but being careful to avoid bruising my flesh. I paused, feeling mildly uneasy, and tried to pull away. The elder nin's grip, however, proved to be far too strong.

Swearing loudly, I kicked at the faceless shinobi's exposed knee cap and tried to twist out of their grip. My kicks had little to no effect and I received only a grunt of disinterest in response.

"Stop it!" They admonished, swatting at my thigh.

I drew backwards, curling into the small space between the two closest stair columns. I felt the flesh that lined my back go soft and slick and I chortled softly to myself as I allowed my body to go completely limp, shifting into the gelatinous mass that was my true form. It was laughable, really, that I couldn't manage to complete a jutsu as simple as the one I had just attempted on a regular basis.

"_Failure_."

It was a mere whisper of a word, breathed from between two blood-colored lips like a poisoned fog, but I knew _exactly _who the voice belonged to. My mother had never been much for subtlety, that much I was certain of, but the resemblance between the voice I had grown up hearing and the one I had only just picked up on was _uncanny_. Was my mother the masked ANBU?!

As if to prove a point, the figure above me shifted and the ANBU vaulted over the edge of the staircase like a chakra-charged bull, hungry for blood. The posture the figure exhibited was vaguely familiar but hardly reminiscent of my mother's cocky swagger. The figure was heavier and wider than she was, more muscle than bone and nowhere near as curvacious in build. The figure could have easily passed for both male and female, making it all the more difficult to uncover their identity.

They landed beside me, swift yet heavy in their ministrations, and seemed to pause, as if unsure of what to do next. Feeling rather proud of myself, I shifted back into my normal form and began to back away from the crouching ANBU. I knew that it wouldn't be long before they began to chase me down but I figured I would probably be able to make at least a little headway before they were able to pin me to the ground. I wanted to find Suigetsu and get the hell off of this ship before Yagura killed me (or worse) and I didn't have time to engage an ANBU-level Hunter nin in a full-on battle.

The masked ANBU, however, had other plans. I had barely taken two steps forward before I heard the familiar whistle of senbon slicing through the air and felt a sudden tightness in my abdomen as the senbon pinned the fabric of my top to the wall, thus temporarily preventing my escape. I could feel the edges of the senbon pressing into the flesh around the edges of my biceps, only millimeters away from slicing through my flesh if I so much as struggled. The ANBU was good, I'd give them that, but did they really think a few strips of fabric would hold me back?

As if to prove my own point, I lurched forwards and skidded to the floor, completely shredding the remnants of my top in the process. It hung loose on one side, exposing the left side of my ribcage. I quickly covered it with my hair, feeling chilled. Beside me, the ANBU wasted no time catching up. They were beside me once again in the blink of an eye, breathing down my neck as I tied the edges of my top back together in a half-hearted attempt at warding off the chill that had settled into my bones, prickling my flesh with ice.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

The ANBU chortled. "Where do yah think you're goin', missy? Bossman says I have to keep you on board."

My brows furrowed and my lower lip curled into a snarl, my jagged teeth scraping against my chapped lips roughly enough to draw forth blooms of blood. The ANBU clearly wasn't going to let up on me but I definitely wasn't going to give up. It wasn't in my nature to simply admit defeat. Logically, it would make more than enough sense but my pride was far too tender to handle yet another blow. If I lost here, would did I have to live for?

_Nothing _is the unspoken answer, breathed from between my thin lips like a poisoned fog as the ANBU stared me down, their chakra crackling throughout the air like a thousand bolts of lightning. Their eyes, I realized, were just barely visible yet horribly unnerving. The ANBU had beautiful, storm-colored eyes strangely dark sclera, the latter of which looked almost _black _when compared to the starkness of the poorly lit room. _Was this person even alive?_ I wondered.

"Take me to Yagura then," I said, finally breaking the choking silence. The ANBU's eyes were more disturbing than they were beautiful and the sooner I could get away from them, the better. "I'm tired of waiting."

The ANBU offered no response. Instead, they took several steps back and began to turn the corner to leave the room, never once saying a word. My skin prickled with chakra as I followed behind them, a thick knot of anxiety settling in my chest at the thought of coming face to face with Yagura once again. I had acted rashly before but expelling my anger in such a violent manner had made me feel infinitely better. The hellish depression that had settled in after Mangetsu had slaughtered my clan was yet to let up and only seemed to grow stronger with every passing day. That, in all honesty, was something I did not understand. I had never really _loved _either of my parents and my cousins had been nothing but dead weight... But even so, part of me missed hearing their annoying voices and suffering through my mother's woefully bad cooking. My life had never been a good one but it had been a life nonetheless.

_Had I loved them, deep down_? I wondered, carefully following behind the rapidly-advancing ANBU like nothing more than a well-trained lapdog. _No_, I finally decided, absentmindedly grinding my teeth, _I hadn't_.

Afterall, you don't willingly try to take the lives of the ones you "love". If anything, Mangetsu and I were one and the same. Not a day had gone by back in Kirigakure without my mother doing everything in her power to make me despise her, ever-so willing to bring out the full force of my unadulterated fury without ever worrying about the consequences. It was her fault, not mine, that she had ended up nothing more than a charred corpse, buried alongside a hundred others beneath the rubble of an ancient villa. At the end of the day, my mother had not been special nor great. She was now nothing more than a stinking, rotting corpse and I _hated _her for it.

"Go to hell," I ground out, fists clenched tightly at my sides.

My remark was more directed towards my deceased mother than anyone else but it was clear that the ANBU had taken offense. They stopped and slowly turned to look down at me with glowing red eyes. It was only then that I realized I was sweating, my whole body wracked with tremors. I hadn't meant to voice my thoughts out loud but it was already too late... The damage had been done and now I would be forced to pay the price.

It took the ANBU less than a millisecond to put a hand to their sword and even less for them to draw it, its polished blade glinting in the dim lighting that surrounded us. Taking a deep breath, I decided to play it cool and stepped forwards, pushing the hunter nin back with the flat of my palm. It was a gamble and I knew it, but I had no other option.

"You wouldn't dare," I murmured, sickly smile already in place, "I'm twice as valuable as someone like you. Yagura has a thousand hunters but only one of me. Kill me now and you'll be forced to pay with your life."

The ANBU stepped back, sheathing their sword and bowing their head. They didn't speak but I knew for a fact that they were still on edge... The tension in their shoulders did not dissipate as they moved away from me and it only seemed to grow worse as the ANBU stiffly began to stalk down the hallway. I raced after them, my short legs making it incredibly difficult to keep up with the hunter nin's long, graceful stride. The ANBU had been quick to drop the issue but I could tell that they were far from done with me. With every step the hunter nin took, I fell farther and farther behind. Unlike Yagura, who was equally as petite as myself, the ANBU was built like an Amazonian and walked like one too.

"Wait," I gasped, my body still shaking with a combination of fear and fatigue, "I can't keep up with you!"

The ANBU did not stop. Instead, they continued to get farther and farther away until they were nothing but a blackened blur in the distance. I dropped to my knees, gasping for breath, and it was only then that I realized my skin had turned bone white. I had always been pale, but never _this _pale, and my veins were nowhere near as prominent. _Am I sick? _I wondered vaguely, pinching at my blue-tinged thighs in an attempt to bring back some of their normal coloring.

"Hozuki, what on Earth are you doing?" An all too familiar voice called out from high above me.

I looked up, throat tight with thirst, and found myself face-to-face with one of the bloodthirstiest killers currently alive today, Yagura himself. I scoffed at the sight of him bundled up like a child in a thick parka and winter boots and stuck my tongue out, my own forehead just barely missing his own as we stared into one another's eyes.

"I should be asking you the same question, Fourth. What are you doing on the ceiling, you dumbass?" I hissed, not wanting the ANBU to eavesdrop on our conversation.

Yagura smirked, eyes glittering with mirth as he spoke. "I came to see you, of course. You seem to have calmed down considerably, disciple. I hope we won't be subjected to those violent tantrums of yours in the future... I'm not made of money, you know."

My cheeks reddened, blazing like a forest fire surrounded by a bleak tundra, and I lurched forwards and slammed my forehead against Yagura's own with all of my strength. An explosion of white hot pain bloomed across my forehead as I hit the floor with enough force to rattle my very bones. Yagura further added to my misery by collapsing on top of me, his skull pressed against flush against the back of my own. When he didn't stir, I was forced to roll over onto my stomach and push him off of me, grinning despite the pain I felt.

"I won!" I cheered, pumping a bony fist in the air. "I _finally _won!"

I contemplated simply lopping Yagura's head off and going about my merry way but decided against it. Yagura had obviously brought me here for a very specific reason and I wanted to know what said reason was before I took his life. I knew the ANBU would tell me absolutely nothing without Yagura's explicit permission so it was better to simply keep him alive. Yagura, like everyone else I kept by my side, would be forced to serve his purpose before I killed him. I would accept nothing less from someone like him, the famed child killer of the Mist.

_Kill him, _the voice in my head whispered, its tinny voice grating on my consciousness like my own mother's once had. _Split his skull girl, make him pay for what he has done to you... And to me... _

And it was then that I knew who the voice belonged to. It was not an extension of my current mindset, nor that of my mother's uniquely reanimated sarcasm, but the voice of the previous Hozuki Chinatsu, the former Hellfire of the Mist.

And she was very much alive.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

I have been so, so busy lately and I'm losing a bit of my motivation here... It feels like I'm writing this for nothing, even if there is a reason behind it and I honestly enjoy it. I'm having motivational issues, honestly, and I need to fix that. I hope you accept this poorly written chapter as an apology. I honestly have no excuse for my behaviour but my life has been difficult these past few weeks and it was hard to find the time to type this all out. I lost a relative recently and the gloomy atmosphere at home made it very difficult to write. Once again, I apologize, but I had been in a _very _dark place and couldn't seem to get out of it.

Please let me know if you have any plot suggestions. I am open for ideas and I will try to include your OCs if you write me a review containing their basic information.

-MSM-


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